Episode 22: Fearless
by Castle Season 9
Summary: It's a week past Kate Beckett's due date, and everyone is getting impatient - coworkers, family, friends, enemies - but will there be time for Castle and Beckett to close one more case before their daughter arrives? Season 9, Episode 22 - SEASON FINALE !
1. Chapter 1

**Fearless**

Season 9, Episode 22

SEASON FINALE

Written by acertainzest and encantadaa

 _This is a work of fiction by writers with no professional connection to ABC network's Castle. Recognizable characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC. Names, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental._

* * *

Susan stepped off the elevator on the maternity floor of the hospital, mentally reviewing the list of patients for the day. She just needed to pick up a couple of files and then head to the office to begin her day.

As she turned toward the nurses' station, she noticed another woman fiddling with the door of the former supply closet beside the elevator. The woman was wearing nurse's scrubs almost identical to Susan's, but she didn't look familiar.

"Excuse me?" Susan said, stepping closer. "You can't go in there. That room's under renovation."

Truth be told, she didn't actually know what the maintenance folks were doing in there, but a few weeks ago the supplies had all been relocated to a different closet, and the _CLOSED - DO NOT ENTER_ sign had gone up on this door, and the nurses had all just shrugged and accepted it. Hospital management never bothered to tell them anything, anyway.

"Oh," the other woman said, turning away from the door. "Uh, I didn't know." She blinked rapidly, glancing at Susan and then quickly away.

"That's okay. If you need supplies, they're all in the other closet, around the corner," Susan said, pointing. "Are you new on this floor, uh..."

She squinted at the other woman's nametag, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, that's my old ID badge. I lost it a while ago." She straightened up to look at the other woman, her lips parting on the beginning of a question, but the naked hostility in the other woman's eyes stopped the breath in her throat.

"You weren't supposed to be here today," the interloper hissed, and before Susan could react, the other woman's arm flashed out, seizing her. The door to the storage room opened and the stranger yanked Susan inside so quickly that she didn't even have time to cry out before the door slammed shut again.

"Stupid, stupid. This wasn't the plan," the woman growled fiercely. Susan struggled, grunting with effort, but the other woman was surprisingly strong and subdued her with ease, wrestling her across the small space and pushing her down onto a gurney. It was equipped with restraints for the arms and legs, and Susan struggled harder when she saw them, but to no avail.

"The door is soundproofed," the attacker said as she quickly fastened the restraints, strapping Susan down firmly. "You can scream all you want. No one will hear."

She removed the new ID badge from around Susan's neck and hung it around her own neck, beside the old one. Then she paused, straightening her spine, staring down at Susan with a strange gleam in her eye.

"I haven't had time to learn your secrets," she said cryptically, "and I don't have time for it now. So this will have to do."

"What do you mean?" Susan gasped, finding her voice at last. "Who are you? Please, just let me go. I promise I won't-"

"Promises are meaningless!" the other woman spat. She turned away, toward a small wheeled table in the corner of the room. "Spare me, Susan. Just don't even bother."

When she turned back around, Susan saw the syringe in her hand. She didn't know what was in it, but it didn't really matter, did it? She screamed.

Her attacker had been right. No one outside the supply closet heard her screams. And then they stopped.

* * *

"Good morning, Kate, Rick," said Dr. Kowalewski, stepping out into the small waiting room of her practice. "Please, come on in to exam room."

"How are you today, Doctor?" Castle asked with a friendly smile as they followed the obstetrician down the short hallway.

"Oh, fine, thank you. Right in here."

"Where's Susan?" Beckett asked curiously, looking around. It was usually the nurse, not Dr. Kowalewski herself, who collected them from the waiting room and brought them back.

"Oh." The doctor frowned, her usual smile dropping away. "Susan not arrive this morning. Very unusual, not like her." Her normally subtle Ukrainian accent seemed more pronounced, her tone tinged with worry. "She was supposed to be here two hours ago, but not here, and not answering her phone."

"That is strange," Castle commented. "Did you call the police?"

"No, no." Dr. Kowalewski waved that off, but her eyes were still concerned. "No need to make trouble. Probably fine."

"Still, I could have someone go to her apartment and check on her, if you want," Kate offered.

The doctor hesitated, clearly torn. "Well..."

"It's no trouble," Kate assured her. "Do you have Susan's address?"

A few minutes later, after Beckett had texted the address to Ryan and asked him to send a uniform over, she was sitting on the exam table while Dr. Kowalewski checked her vital signs.

"All looks good," the doctor announced. "Baby is active, yes?"

"Oh, yes," Castle chuckled, sharing a smile with his wife. "She moves around like crazy, even now that she's running out of room in there."

"Good, good." The doctor nodded, her hands moving gently over Kate's belly. "Any contractions?"

"Not really," Kate answered. "Just the Braxton-Hicks a few times a day."

"Mm. And how are you feeling otherwise, Kate? Sleep okay?"

"It's getting harder to sleep," Kate admitted. "I just can't get comfortable."

"Yes, yes, normal," Dr. Kowalewski agreed, nodding again. "Sleep sitting up, if you must. Will be fine. Now," she went on, straightening up, "as we discussed before, Kate, you are high-risk because of your age and medical history."

"Right," Kate said, and Castle nodded also.

"However, pregnancy is going very well," the doctor continued. "Mom healthy, baby healthy. All looks good. So, we are now one week past due date, and we give you one more week, then we think about inducing labor, yes?"

"Yeah." Kate grimaced. "I still hope that won't be necessary, though. I don't know if I can take another week of this."

"Well, we'll see." The doctor smiled at her. "A lot can happen in a week. Is definitely possible labor starts on its own, maybe even today. Who knows? Babies have minds of their own."

The exam concluded, Castle chatted with the doctor in the hallway while Kate fixed her clothing, and then the three of them walked back out to the waiting room together.

"Now, you speak to receptionist and make appointment for same time next week," Dr. Kowalewski told them, "but I think I will be seeing you again before then. My gut tells me this."

"Well, from what I hear, your gut is rarely wrong," Castle joked, and he and the doctor exchanged grins as the outer door opened and a new arrival walked in.

"Kyle?" Kate exclaimed, bringing Castle's head around. They were both startled to see Officer Hernandez entering the waiting room.

"Oh," Kyle said, looking just as surprised to see them as they were to see him. "Captain Beckett, I didn't know you'd be here. I was just sent over by dispatch."

"Why?" Kate asked, the back of her neck prickling with a sudden uncomfortable feeling that she wasn't going to like whatever her officer had to say.

"I'm supposed to talk to a Doctor..." Kyle paused to take out his little notebook, "...Kowalewski? About an incident at the hospital this morning."

"I am Dr. Kowalewski," the obstetrician told him. "What incident?"

"Uh, something to do with a nurse who works here." Kyle consulted his notes again. "A Susan Murphy?"

Castle and Beckett exchanged a look. "What about Susan?" Beckett asked. "Oh, hold on." She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone to check her texts.

 _Unis found nothing at Susan Murphy's apartment,_ read the message from Ryan. _No one home, no sign of anything amiss. What do you want us to do?_

* * *

"What are we even doing, bro?" Esposito asked as he and Ryan strode down the hospital corridor. "This seems like a major waste of our time."

"Well, it's not like we were doing much with our time back at the precinct," his partner shrugged. "There's no murder case, and between the two of us we've got Beckett's captain duties pretty well handled."

"Yeah, I guess," Espo agreed. "And Beckett seemed pretty worried about this missing nurse situation. It's probably nothing, though."

"Yeah, but do you want to be the one to tell her that?" Ryan replied, shaking his head. "The way she's been lately, since she had to go on maternity leave?"

"No way," Espo said, giving an exaggerated shudder. Ryan grinned. Not for the first time, he and his partner were in complete agreement.

"Anyway, it's not a big deal, doing a favor for our captain. Shouldn't take long," he commented. "Here we are." He knocked on a door marked HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION.

The door opened almost immediately, revealing an older man wearing a doctor's coat and a worried expression.

"Doctor Sutherland? I'm Detective Ryan from the 12th Precinct," said Ryan. "This is my partner, Detective Esposito."

"Yes, thank you for coming so quickly, detectives," the doctor replied, shaking their hands. "Please, come into my office."

"We understand there was some kind of incident involving a nurse this morning," Esposito said as they all stepped inside and closed the door.

"Yes," Dr. Sutherland confirmed, "very upsetting." He gestured for them to sit in the guest chairs facing his desk, while he himself moved around to sit in the desk chair. "A family was leaving the hospital with their new baby, when this nurse ran up and tried to snatch the baby from the mother."

"A kidnapping attempt?" Esposito said incredulously, his eyebrows going up. "Right there in front of everyone?"

"Apparently so," the administrator said, frowning. "I understand she was yelling about 'you don't deserve her, she deserves better,' something like that, but the parents insist they don't know this woman. Never saw her before in their lives."

"Was hospital security able to detain her?" Ryan asked, although he felt pretty sure he already knew the answer. The doctor's frustrated huff and head-shake confirmed his suspicion.

"No, unfortunately, in the confusion she managed to slip away. But her ID badge tore off her lanyard and was left behind, which is how we knew that she was Susan Murphy from Dr. Kowalewski's office."

Ryan exchanged a glance with his partner. He could see that Esposito was thinking the same thing he was: this was suddenly not looking as trivial as they had thought.

"I have the security footage here, if you'd like to see it," Dr. Sutherland said, and both detectives nodded, leaning forward in their chairs.

"Yes, please."

The doctor turned his monitor toward them so they could see the video he had cued up. There was no audio, so they watched in silence as the display showed a busy hospital corridor, people coming and going. After a few seconds, the family appeared: the mother in a wheelchair holding her baby, the father pushing the wheelchair, with grandparents and two older children surrounding them as they moved toward the exit.

Suddenly, a tall figure in nurse's scrubs came into the shot, exactly as Dr. Sutherland had described. The detectives watched in amazement as she shoved the family members out of her way and grappled with the mother, attempting to wrestle the baby out of the mother's arms. The father yelled soundlessly and grabbed at the attacker's shoulder. In another moment the grandparents and several bystanders had joined the struggle, all tugging on the assailant from different angles.

At last, the woman gave up and released her hold on the baby, falling to the floor as the others grasped at her clothing. She immediately scrambled back onto her feet and dashed away, disappearing off the edge of the screen.

Ryan's skin had gone cold, his mouth dry. He stared at the screen, transfixed, barely hearing the doctor's next words - something about security guards and pursuit and escape.

When Esposito spoke, his voice was as unsteady as Ryan felt, and a glance sideways showed Ryan that his partner was gripping the armrests of his chair so hard his knuckles were white. "Can you rewind that?" Espo asked tightly. "The part where it showed her face?"

"Oh - yes, of course," the doctor said, and reached for his computer mouse. "Here, it's just the last few seconds." He replayed the recording, hitting the pause button as the escaping nurse's face filled the screen.

"Son of a..." Espo muttered.

Dr. Sutherland looked from one detective to the other, confused by their sudden distress. "Is something wrong? Have you seen Susan Murphy before?"

"That's not Susan Murphy," Ryan said slowly, forcing words out past the tight knot of dread in his throat. "And yes, we've seen her before. Her name is Megan Bailey."


	2. Chapter 2

"Beer?" offered Castle with a strained smile when he opened the door to the loft and ushered Ryan and Esposito in. "Or do you want to skip straight to the hard stuff?"

It was barely past noon, so the detectives merely scoffed at the writer's weak attempt at a joke. Under other circumstances they might have laughed and teased him back, but this was no ordinary situation.

Beckett was ensconced on the couch with a blanket and a glass of water. As the others walked toward the living-room area, she moved as if to get up and greet them, but all three men frowned and waved her back down. She relented and sank into the cushions, much to the relief of her aching back.

All four of their faces were pinched tight with tension, and Beckett wasted no time in cutting right to the point. "Are we sure it was her?"

"Yeah," Espo confirmed, following her lead, speaking bluntly. "No doubt about it, Captain. She's back."

"Or she never left," Ryan said, which didn't make any of them feel any better.

As the men took seats on the couch and end chairs, they all exchanged matching looks of trepidation. Beckett knew that if they allowed themselves to fall fully into the grip of the anxieties that were plaguing them, they'd never get anywhere. So she took refuge, as always, in the case. Focusing on the work would get them through.

"Okay. Let's review," she said, forcing an authoritative tone, clenching her hands in her lap to keep them from trembling. "Everything we know about her from the previous cases."

"Right." Esposito sat up straighter, nodding. "I asked Marisa to pull the files so we can go over them, but I don't think any of us have forgotten the particulars."

"Megan Bailey's sister died when she was a kid," Ryan said as if reciting a lesson from memory. "Unremarkable family life otherwise, as far as we know. She finished high school but never went to college. Obsessed with phobias."

"She murdered, what, five people?" Esposito added, picking up the thread. "All of them killed in ways that reflected their own worst fears. She worked at the psychiatric office, which gave her access to patient records so she could find out what her victims were scared of."

"And she was obsessed with you, Beckett," Ryan finished, looking at the floor, as if he couldn't bear to meet his boss's eyes - or those of her husband.

"Right." Beckett swallowed carefully, again forcing down the worries that kept threatening to rise up and choke her. "We still have some holes in her background, though. I need you guys to dig in again - find out everything we missed last time. Details of her sister's death, where the parents are, her relationship with them. Every job she's ever had, hobbies, associates."

"We need to know where her fascination with phobias came from," Castle added. "That seems like an important detail that might help us figure out how to stop her."

"Yeah," Ryan said, as they all nodded agreement. "And of course we're going to work on figuring out where she's been hiding all this time. It seems that she may have been using Susan Murphy's identity for a while now, so Vikram is tracing Susan's financials to see if we can find anything in that."

"We've got unis searching the hospital floor by floor," Esposito added, "although she's probably long gone by now."

"And we've got an APB out," Beckett said. "I also suggested that they increase security on the maternity ward, in case she comes back to try to kidnap another baby." She looked from one man to the next, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "We've got this, guys. We're going to get her this time."

Castle opened his mouth as if to say something, but then changed his mind and closed it again. Beckett cocked her head at him, asking the question with her eyes, but he shook his head minutely, so she let it drop - for now.

"You guys better get back to the precinct," she said to the detectives, and they both nodded and got to their feet.

"We'll keep you posted," Esposito promised.

"Thanks."

As Castle walked the two detectives to the door, he shot her a cautious look and dropped his voice to a hushed tone, so Beckett took out her phone and pretended to be engrossed in an email, all the while straining to make out what the three men were saying.

"I'd come with you guys, but-" Castle began, but the others shook their heads, Esposito putting up a hand to forestall him.

"Dude, don't be crazy. You gotta stay here with Beckett."

"Yeah," Ryan chimed in. "Keep her safe."

"You better believe it," Castle said grimly, and then he was closing the door behind the others, turning to rejoin Beckett in the living room.

"Hey," she murmured, dropping her phone onto the couch and reaching her hand out to him. He lowered himself carefully next to her, taking her hand and clasping it between both of his, resting on his knee.

"Kate," he said before she could speak, his eyes fierce. "I think you should go away."

"What do you mean?" she asked, startled. "Go where?"

"Anywhere," he said, gesturing jerkily with one hand. "The Hamptons, your dad's cabin upstate, Siberia. Somewhere far away from- from here. Somewhere you'll be safe."

"Oh, Castle..." The baby wriggled within her, and Kate thought whimsically that Lily was reacting to her father's suggestion, the same way she was. Of course he just wanted them to be safe, but there was no way she was going to leave town - not at this point in her pregnancy.

As she rubbed her other hand gently over the swell of her belly, Beckett thought about Megan Bailey, and realized slowly that she simply wasn't willing to be scared any more. The serial killer might be clever and ruthless, but how could she compare to what Beckett had - family, friends, a team of experienced detectives at her back and by her side?

"No," she said firmly, stroking her thumb along Castle's knuckles. "We're not running away; we're not going to hide. I'm staying right here, and we're going to catch Bailey and have our baby and be happy."

"Kate, come on," Castle said fretfully. "You know it's not a coincidence that she happened to take the identity of a nurse who works at our obstetrician's office, who's connected with the hospital where we're going to have our baby."

"No, it's not," Beckett agreed with a nod. "We know that she's obsessed with us for some reason, but listen." She squeezed her husband's hand, waiting for him to meet her eyes before she continued. "Think, babe. The last two times we encountered her, those murders were carefully planned out and executed. She put months of preparation into them, and staged them to get our attention."

Some of the tension flowed out of her shoulders when she saw Castle pause, the anguish fading from his expression as his logical brain kicked back in. "Oh," he said slowly, picking up her thought. "But this incident today wasn't like that."

"Exactly," she nodded, smiling with relief. It was so good to be doing this again - thinking through the details of a case - applying logic, detective work, and their collective years of experience. She felt her spine straightening as she laid out her next point. "Whatever she was trying to do this morning, it wasn't planned. With a nurse's badge she could have kidnapped that baby quietly at any time. But making a public scene like that? That's not her M.O."

"She snapped," Castle concluded, his eyebrows drawing downward thoughtfully. "If she is planning something, there's no way that was part of it."

"She's losing her grip, getting sloppy," Beckett continued. "And that means we have the upper hand. She's going to slip up again, and we'll be there."

Castle's expression darkened again. "But Kate, coming unhinged also means she's more dangerous than ever." He shifted closer, reaching for her other hand, holding onto both of her hands like a lifeline. His eyes were stormy as he pleaded with her. "You can't put yourself into more danger, not now. Not when we're getting so close to Lily's arrival."

"I won't," she assured him, pouring as much sincerity and confidence as she could summon up into her voice and face. "Babe, I promise you. I'm not going to let anything happen to our baby, or myself. But remember what else we know about Bailey - she thrives on our fear. She wants us to be scared. So if we give in to it..."

"She wins," Castle finished, heaving a sigh.

"Right."

Kate disengaged one of her hands from his grip and slid it up his arm, squeezing his shoulder, then letting her palm rest soothingly on the back of his neck. He closed his eyes briefly, leaning into her touch.

"I know," he said, a near-whisper directed toward the floor. "I know you're right, but it's just easier said than done, Beckett." He lifted his head to meet her eyes again. "How can I not be terrified, with you and Lily at stake?"

"Hey." With difficulty, Kate scooted herself a little closer, pulling Castle in for a hug. "I'm not saying that I don't feel the same, Rick. I'm scared too, but I'm not going to let it rule me. Not this time."

He let out another sigh, his breath gusting unsteadily across her neck. His arms encircled her torso and squeezed gently.

"Okay," he said into her skin, his tone straining to sound confident. "We can do this. We're going to get her."

"Yeah, we are."

The baby moved again then, wriggling urgently against the press of Castle's elbow. They both chuckled lightly, wiping at their eyes as he pulled back.

"Sorry, peanut, didn't mean to squish you."

"I think she needs some more water," Kate said, looking to the side table where she had put her glass down. But it was empty. "Oh, babe, could you-"

"Of course." They exchanged tender smiles, and he kissed her softly on the cheek before standing up and reaching for the glass.

As Castle headed to the kitchen to refill the glass, a sudden deep twinge seized Kate, a strong clenching pain throughout her belly. The intensity of it almost drew a gasp from her, but she bit her lip and held it back.

It wasn't the first time today that she'd had a spasm like this - similar to the Braxton-Hicks contractions she'd been having for months now, but stronger, sharper. They had started a few hours ago, just after she and Castle had left Dr. Kowalewski's office, but she hadn't thought much of it.

Was it possible that these weren't Braxton-Hicks after all? Could they be the real thing?

She chewed on her lower lip and surreptitiously checked her watch. She would keep an eye on it, she told herself, and see how far apart the pains were coming. There was no need to mention this to Castle yet. He was worried enough already.

* * *

Ryan sat at his desk in the precinct, frowning to himself as he re-read the email he had just composed.

 _Hi again,_ it read. _Thanks very much for answering my additional questions about the job. I'm honored to be considered for this. I'm sure you understand, leaving the homicide team here at the 12th is a really big decision for me, so I hope it's still okay if I take a little more time to think it through, as we discussed. I'll get back to you very soon. Sincerely, Kevin Ryan._

As he sat there staring at the words on the screen, his cell phone pinged with a text from Jenny. _Did you send that email yet?_ it read. Ryan couldn't help smiling. Somehow his wife had a way of sensing when he was being indecisive.

He clicked _Send_ on the email, and texted _Yep, sent it just now_ to Jenny.

Then he mentally put all of that aside and switched the computer view back to the warrant request he had been working on.

"Anything?" his partner asked, emerging from Beckett's office.

Ryan looked up from his computer and shook his head. "Nope. You?"

"Nothing useful," Esposito replied, his features twisted with frustration. "Bailey escaped into the stairwell, where there are no cameras, and she could have exited the stairwell in any one of a dozen places without being seen. Including the parking garage. So we don't even know if she's still in the hospital or not."

"I found the name of the therapist who did her grief counseling after her sister's death," Ryan said, returning his eyes to the computer screen. "I'm putting in a warrant for those records."

"You sent unis over to her apartment, right?"

"Yeah, but they struck out. The landlord rented it to someone else a couple months ago, and the new tenants haven't seen or heard anything."

"I think I have something!" came a voice from across the room, and both detectives looked up as Vikram popped out of his tech room, a slip of paper in his hand.

"Let's hear it," Esposito said, his tone reflecting the same sense of urgency that Ryan felt. As the tech analyst approached, Ryan saw that Vikram, too, felt the same way. They had to solve this, and fast. Their captain - their friend - was depending on them.

"Okay," Vikram said, speaking hastily in his rush to tell them what he had found. "I figured since Bailey was using Susan Murphy's identity at the hospital, it was possible that she'd used it in other places too. So I ran a credit-card search and found that Susan - or at least someone using her name - applied for a credit card a few months ago. Using a billing address that doesn't match her home address."

"What? That's huge," Ryan exclaimed, hitting the _Submit_ button on his computer and leaping to his feet. "What's the address?"

"Here," Vikram said, handing over the paper with the address scribbled on it.

"Let's go," Esposito said, but just then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out as he and Ryan strode toward the elevator. "Esposito."

Ryan signaled to a few uniforms to accompany them, listening to his partner mutter "Okay" and "Yeah" as they waited for the elevator to arrive. "Okay, be there soon," he concluded, and hung up.

"Whatcha got?" Ryan asked. The elevator doors opened and the two detectives and three uniforms piled in.

"That was Dr. Sutherland at the hospital," Esposito said. "Says they found something while searching the maternity floor, wants us to come see."

"What is it?"

"A storage room that had been closed off for several weeks now, and when they tried to open it, they found that the locks had been changed," Espo explained, frowning. "The hospital janitors couldn't get it open, so they called a locksmith. He's on his way." Espo pushed his phone back into his pocket. "I'll go over there and see what's in the storage room. You go to the apartment. Check in when you get there."

"Right." The elevator doors opened on the ground floor, and they all rushed out, heading off in different directions.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want any more spaghetti?"

"Really, babe, I'm stuffed," Kate said with a smile, pushing her plate away. "There's not much room in my stomach any more, you know."

"Right, right." Castle nodded and tried to hold his tongue as he cleared the plate and refilled Beckett's water glass. He knew he was fussing over her more than she liked, and any minute now she was likely to snap at him if he didn't tone it down.

He couldn't help himself, though. The closer they got to their baby's arrival, the more excited he felt; even the reappearance of Megan Bailey couldn't entirely dampen his enthusiasm. And pampering Kate was the closest he could get to spoiling his new daughter, for now.

"Drink some more water at least," he urged, and Kate picked up the glass, rolling her eyes mildly.

As Castle put the leftovers from their lunch into a container for later, his iPad chimed softly, the screen displaying an alert from the new security system he'd had installed after their last encounter with the serial killer. It was programmed to notify him whenever the elevator stopped at their floor.

He frowned down at the display, wondering who it could be. Their neighbors in the apartment across the hall kept a very consistent schedule, and didn't usually come home this early in the afternoon. "Expecting someone?" he asked, glancing over at his wife, who raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

Pursing his lips, Castle swiped the iPad on and opened the security app, which showed him a live feed from the surveillance camera in the outer corridor. He turned the tablet sideways so that Kate could see it too.

They were both surprised to see a familiar form walking down the hallway from the elevator and approaching their door.

"LT?" Kate exclaimed. "What's he doing?"

On the screen, they could see that the officer was wearing jeans and a t-shirt rather than his uniform; a baseball cap was on his head instead of the uniform hat. But his gun was in its usual place on his hip. He made no attempt to knock or ring their doorbell, merely stopped next to their door and assumed a parade-rest stance: feet apart, thumbs hooked in the belt-loops of his jeans.

Curious, Castle came out from behind the kitchen island and moved across the room to open the door. Kate slid off her stool and followed him.

"What's going on, LT?" Castle asked as he opened the door.

"Hey, Castle," the officer said easily, giving him a friendly nod. "Heading out?"

"I, uh, no," the writer stammered, blinking. It occurred to him that he'd never seen the other man out of uniform before.

"LT, what are you doing here?" Kate asked. "Your shift ended an hour ago."

Castle couldn't help smiling to himself. Of course his wife still knew the 12th Precinct's duty roster by heart, even while she was on maternity leave.

"Protective detail," the officer explained, giving Kate a respectful nod.

"What?" Beckett's forehead creased. "By whose orders?"

"No orders, Captain," LT said laconically. "Me and the other uniforms put together a schedule on our own."

"A schedule for standing guard outside our door?" Castle clarified, and LT nodded confirmation.

"Yep." Seeing the surprise on their faces, he added, "Not letting that serial killer get past us again. She tries anything, we'll be ready."

Castle looked at his wife, who was smiling slightly. "Thanks, LT," she said softly. "That's really sweet of you - all of you."

"No problem, Cap," LT replied, ducking his head, apparently uncomfortable with Beckett's display of emotion. "Don't mind me, I'll just be out here."

"Well, uh, can I get you anything? Coffee?" Castle offered, but LT shook his head.

"Thanks, Castle, I'm good."

"Okay..." Castle closed the door and turned to his wife, who was still smiling.

"Can you believe that?" she asked, her voice low and warm with pride.

"Yeah, I can," Castle replied honestly, enjoying the way her eyes widened at the statement. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "That's the kind of loyalty you inspire, Beckett. They're lucky to have a captain like you, and they all know it."

"Stop it," Kate said half-heartedly, turning her face away and blinking hard. "Stupid hormones," he heard her grumble under her breath, and he chuckled softly.

"Sorry," he said, letting his grin show that he wasn't really sorry at all.

Kate stepped forward and put her arms around his waist, lifting her face up toward him. He took the hint and bent down to kiss her lightly, his hands falling easily onto her hips.

"Thank you," she whispered against his lips, and then pulled away, her hand going to her lower back, a grimace crossing her face.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned, but she nodded and mustered a smile.

"Fine, babe. Don't fuss," she chided. "I'm just going to go lie down for a few minutes. Don't let me fall asleep."

"Kate, you know perfectly well that you're going to fall asleep, and I'm not waking you up," he scoffed. "You need all the rest you can get right now."

"I mean it," she said, flashing her stern glare at him. "We need to stay on top of this investigation, Castle. Don't let me sleep the afternoon away."

"I'll wake you if there's anything really important," he said, and they both knew that she knew it was an evasion, but she let it drop.

Castle stood for a moment watching Kate make her slow way toward the bedroom, and then he returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning up their lunch.

* * *

"NYPD! Open up!" called Ryan, pounding his fist on the door of the apartment that was listed as the billing address for Susan Murphy's credit card. The three uniformed officers and the landlord stood by, tense, listening with Ryan for any sounds of movement from within.

The landlord had nodded when Ryan showed him a photo of Megan Bailey. He confirmed that the woman in the picture was probably his tenant, although she had been wearing dark sunglasses and a low-slung hat the one time he met her face-to-face.

After a minute of silence ticked by, Ryan banged on the door again. "NYPD! We're coming in," he yelled. He waited another long moment, then turned to look at the landlord. The man stepped forward, master key in hand, and unlocked the door.

Ryan's shoulders were tense with apprehension, his fingers tight around the grip of his gun. He eased into the apartment with the uniformed officers close behind. It was dim, the interior lit only by daylight coming through the cracks between the window coverings, until the landlord flipped the switch by the entrance and the lights came on.

They swept quickly through the apartment, tense voices calling out "Clear!" from each room as they checked it. There seemed to be no one here.

Ryan was opening the coat closet just in case when he heard an officer call from the rear of the apartment. "Uh, Detective? You should probably see this."

As he made his way down the short hallway, his phone rang, the screen lighting up with Castle's picture. "Hey, Castle."

"Hey, Ryan. Vikram filled me in," the writer said. "Are you at the apartment now?"

"Yeah, she's not here, but the landlord identified her." Following the officer who had summoned him, Ryan stepped through the door of the room at the end of the hall, and stopped short. "Whoa."

"What?" When he didn't immediately answer, Castle's voice came through the speaker again, tight with alarm. "Kevin?"

"Um, Castle, hang on, I'm gonna FaceTime you," Ryan said. He didn't wait for a reply before ending the call and tapping his thumb on the screen to initiate a FaceTime request. His eyes roamed the room, a shiver prickling his spine as he waited for the call to connect.

"What's going on?" Castle asked when his face appeared on the screen. "What is that?" He sucked in a sharp breath as Ryan held up the phone and panned it slowly from one side to the other, letting the phone's camera take in the small room. "Holy - Ryan, where the hell are you?"

"I told you, we're at her apartment. A little room at the back." Ryan panned the camera again, struggling to hold the phone level in his trembling hand.

The room was festively decorated as an infant's nursery, complete with crib, rocking chair, diaper-changing table, clothes dresser, and a bookcase already filled with baby books. The walls bore cheery animal patterns and framed prints, the floor a woven rug. An elephant-themed mobile hung over the crib.

In almost every way, it was identical to the nursery that Castle and Beckett had set up for their baby. Ryan recognized it because they had taken pictures, and Beckett's Aunt Theresa had posted them on Facebook. The only thing missing from this room was the set of carved and painted wooden letters spelling out LILY that the parents-to-be had hung on the wall above the changing table.

"This is seriously creepy," Castle muttered, and Ryan could only nod agreement as he turned the phone so that he and Castle could see each other's faces.

"Yeah. Where's Beckett?"

"She went to lie down." Castle blew out a breath and shook his head. "It's just as well. She doesn't need to see that. I'll tell her about it when she wakes up."

"Okay." Ryan cast one more look around the room, shuddered, and moved back out to the hallway. "Castle... I don't like this, man. This woman is seriously obsessed with you guys... and Lily."

"I know." But to Ryan's surprise, Castle didn't look terrified. His expression was grim, determined, but not panicky. "But she's going down, Kev. This is it. We're gonna get her this time."

* * *

"Detective, thank you for coming back so quickly," said Dr. Sutherland as Esposito stepped off the elevator on the maternity ward.

"No problem," Espo replied, following the doctor toward the locked storage room. Aragon was standing by the door, along with the locksmith and a few other uniforms. Since they were both on duty, Esposito greeted his girlfriend with only a nod of his head and a small smile, which she returned. He shook the locksmith's hand and gave him the go-ahead to get started.

"No one seems to know why or when this storage closet was closed," Sutherland explained as the locksmith bent to his task. "The nurses say that some number of weeks or months ago, the supplies were all moved out to the other supply closet and the _Do Not Enter_ sign went up on this one. But no one in hospital administration has any record of ordering it to be closed."

"There you go," the locksmith said, straightening up and turning the handle. The door swung open, and they all gasped.

"Oh God!" Sutherland exclaimed, pushing past Esposito to rush into the room. The locksmith turned away, covering his mouth with a hand.

"I'm gonna guess that's the real Susan Murphy," Espo commented with a wince, as the doctor bent over the motionless woman strapped to the gurney.

Aragon and the other uniforms nodded grimly. "Yes, Detective, she matches the photo we were given," one of them confirmed.

Sutherland's fingers pressed into the woman's neck, seeking a pulse, but it was clear to everyone that he wasn't going to find one. Susan Murphy was dead.

As the initial shock passed, Esposito and the uniforms entered the storage closet, looking around cautiously. The shelving racks had been pushed against the walls, empty and bare. In one corner a small table held several pairs of handcuffs and a variety of medical instruments, including several syringes and a number of small bottles of liquid.

The gurney, with its attached restraints that were currently holding Susan Murphy's body in place, stood in the middle of the room alongside a wheelchair - also equipped with restraints - and a plain folding chair.

"This is creepy," Aragon said under her breath, and Esposito grunted agreement as they moved carefully around the small space, trying not to disturb anything before CSU arrived.

Dr. Sutherland had gone to the doorway to summon help, and as two orderlies arrived to remove the body, Esposito called the doctor over to the table in the corner.

"Check this out," the detective requested. "What's in these little bottles?"

"Hmm..." Sutherland picked up one of the small vials and squinted at its label. "Succinylcholine. Oh my."

"What's that?"

"It's a powerful sedative," the doctor explained. "It renders the patient incapable of physical movement, but still conscious and alert."

"Could this be what killed her?"

"Well, obviously I can only speculate," Sutherland replied, "but it can certainly be fatal if a large enough dose is given." He placed the vial back on the table, frowning down at the array of identical vials. "There's quite a lot of it here. This is enough to dose at least two or three people, I would say."

"Javi," Marisa called from the other corner. "Look at this."

"Excuse me," Esposito said to the doctor, and moved around the table to see what Aragon had found.

A small calendar was taped to the wall, displaying the current month. In bright red ink, a large X had been drawn over a single date, one week ago.

"Is that-" Espo lifted his eyes from the calendar to his girlfriend's face, and she nodded solemnly, confirming his suspicion.

"Yep. Captain Beckett's due date."


	3. Chapter 3

It was earlier in the evening than Ryan and Esposito usually ate dinner, but they didn't let that stop them from accepting an offer of pizza when they returned to the loft to regroup. Esposito brought a slice out to Officer Julian, who was taking his turn standing guard, and then the two detectives settled in with pizza and soda alongside their captain and the writer.

"So," said Beckett, after they had all munched in silence for a few minutes, "where are we?"

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a glance, and, with a small nod, Espo began. "CSU found Bailey's fingerprints all over that supply closet. Looks like she wasn't being too careful to hide her tracks."

"She probably figured we'd never find her hideout until after she had done... whatever it is that she's planning at the hospital," Castle said.

"Yeah," Espo nodded. "Lanie puts Susan's time of death early this morning, although she's not ready to confirm COD yet."

"The timing makes sense though," Beckett mused. "Susan went to the hospital first thing in the morning to get some files, which she was supposed to bring to Dr. Kowalewski's office."

"Right." Ryan cleared his throat and gestured toward a file folder he had brought along, which was sitting on the coffee table between pizza boxes. "The records from Megan Bailey's therapy sessions after her sister died were sealed, but I got an emergency warrant to pull them out of storage. It seems that Megan and her sister were playing on the roof of their family home, and the sister fell from the third-story roof onto the driveway below. She died instantly." He paused, looking down at the file. "According to reports, the sister was terrified of heights."

"A phobia?" Castle said, immediately grasping the significance. "That could be the origin of Megan's obsession with phobias."

"It seems that way. And get this," Ryan went on, grimacing. "Her sister's name was Kate."

Beckett sat up a little straighter at that. "Kate Bailey?" she asked, her eyes widening. Ryan nodded confirmation.

"Yep. That could explain why she fixated on you, Captain. The names are pretty similar."

"D'you think she killed her sister?" Esposito asked, and they all fell silent for a moment, considering the possibility.

"We may never know," Beckett said at last, shaking her head slowly. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually." Ryan flipped over a page in the file and ran his eyes across it, refreshing his memory. "The therapist saw her for several years after her sister's death, and he writes that her fascination with phobias just grew and grew. Eventually he suggested that she get into contact with a prominent psychologist who was conducting research on phobias at Princeton." He flipped another page. "Says here that he gave the guy's contact info to Bailey, and shortly after that, she ended their therapy sessions."

"Okay." Beckett chewed on her pizza crust, thinking it over. "We need to talk to this researcher. He might have some insight into Bailey's state of mind, what's driving her."

"We'll call him first thing in the morning," Esposito said, checking his watch.

"Right."

"Another slice?" Castle offered, but both detectives shook their heads.

"Thanks, Castle, I had enough," Ryan said. "I've gotta get back to the precinct and finish up the paperwork from the day."

"Bro, what you gotta do is get home to your family," Esposito contradicted him. "I'll handle the paperwork."

Beckett's eyebrows went up, a small smile lifting her lips at the uncharacteristic words. Esposito shot her a glare and she held her tongue, with some difficulty.

"I thought you had a date with Marisa," Ryan said, but he was pursing his lips, clearly torn.

"She's still on shift. I can finish up the reports by the time she's ready to clock out."

"Sounds like a plan," Beckett said, still grinning. Ryan huffed and shook his head ruefully.

"Okay, okay. Thanks, Javi," he said, handing Espo the file folder. "See you in the morning." He glanced around at Beckett and Castle. "Good night, Castles."

"Night, Kevin."

As Castle walked Ryan and Esposito to the door, Beckett hauled herself up onto her feet, no easy task at this point in her pregnancy. She paused, bracing one hand on the back of the chair, to stretch her shoulders and roll her head back and forth, feeling the bones in her neck creaking against each other.

Another of those strong spasms gripped her, and she leaned heavily on the chair, feeling grateful that she had turned her back to the door, so none of the men could see her face. Even without looking at her watch, she could tell that the pains were happening more frequently.

Whatever it was, it had passed by the time Castle came back over and started clearing away the pizza boxes. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." She yawned, suddenly exhausted. "I'm going to wash up." She glanced at her watch and groaned. "Even though it's way too early for bed."

"Not for you it isn't," Castle chuckled, brushing a kiss to her temple as he walked past her with the boxes. "If you're tired, it's bedtime."

A few minutes later, having changed into her nightgown and washed up, Beckett stood at the foot of their bed, sighing. The thought of lowering herself onto the bed - and then having to heave herself back up again every time she needed to use the bathroom - was suddenly not appealing at all.

"Rick," she said, padding back through to the living room, "I think I'm going to try sleeping in this chair, like Dr. Kowalewski suggested. Do you mind turning down the lights?"

"Of course not," Castle said immediately. "I'm done with the dishes anyway." He quickly dried his hands and came over to her. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I've got my glass of water; I'm fine." Her eyelids already felt so heavy. She sank like a stone onto the armchair, adjusting a throw cushion at the small of her back.

Castle turned the lights off, leaving the room in darkness except for the illumination trickling through the door from his office. He brought a blanket over to where Beckett was sitting, and tucked it carefully around her legs. "Should I sleep on the couch here next to you?" he offered, but she shook her head, lifting a hand to caress his cheek as she stifled another yawn.

"No, no. There's no reason for us both to have sore backs. It's fine."

"Okay..." He straightened up, looking down at her with such tenderness that she felt warmed through and through. "As long as you're sure," he said. "I'll just be in the office if you need anything."

"Mm." She could feel sleep trying to drag her down, but she fought it long enough to mumble, "You writing?"

"Yeah." His voice was soft, amused, but she could also hear the restrained excitement behind it. "Yeah, I'll be in there writing."

"More Nikki, or that new thing you were talking about?" she asked, but the low rumble of his reply was lost on her as she slipped into sleep.

* * *

"Beckett?" said Ryan in surprise when the elevator doors opened at the homicide floor the next morning. Heads turned all across the bullpen as Beckett and Castle walked down the corridor from the elevator toward the captain's office.

"I know, I know. I'm not supposed to be here," Beckett said with a narrow-eyed look at Castle, and the expressions on their faces made it clear that there had been an argument - or several - on the topic. "But I need to stay in the loop on this case, and it'll just be easier this way."

Ryan gulped. "Oh crap," he muttered under his breath. Esposito was already up out of his chair, rushing to intercept the couple, and Ryan hastened to join him.

"Beckett, hold on a minute," said Esposito quickly, "um, you need to-"

"There's something you-" Ryan began, but it was too late. Beckett had already reached the door of her office and strode in - well, waddled in, but both detectives kept that thought firmly to themselves - only to stop short when she caught sight of someone sitting in her desk chair.

"Yes, that will be fine, thank you," Victoria Gates said into the phone. She placed the receiver back in its cradle and folded her hands on top of what had once been her desk, looking over the tops of her glasses at her subordinate.

"Captain Beckett," Gates pronounced dryly, raising her eyebrows. "What a surprise."

"Sir," Beckett said, faltering at first, but then quickly regaining her equilibrium. She lifted her chin, clearly preparing to be defiant, but Gates raised a hand to forestall her, a ghost of a grin appearing on her face as she studied Beckett.

"Save it, Kate. There's nowhere else I'd expect to find you other than in the thick of things." She directed a slight frown of disapproval toward Castle. "Mr. Castle, likewise."

"Lovely to see you again, Inspector," Castle responded with a pleasant grin, which was wasted on the woman. She ignored him as she stood up from the chair and gestured Beckett to take it.

"Sorry, Beckett," Ryan said with a sigh. "Uh, we didn't get a chance to let you know that Deputy Inspector Gates is here to oversee the investigation."

"Yes," Gates said coolly, raising a hand again as both Beckett and Castle drew indignant breaths, "but let me add, at this time I have no intention of interfering. Think of me as an interested observer." She lowered her hand and directed her glare at each of them in turn. "I told the higher-ups at One PP that I could think of no better team to be on this case, despite their concerns about your, shall we say, emotional involvement."

"Thank you, sir," Beckett said, lowering herself into her chair.

Gates favored her with a nod. "But I won't hesitate to step in," she added, "if I feel that the investigation is being compromised by any one of you."

"Understood," said Ryan, and Esposito nodded agreement.

"Good." Gates took a seat on the sofa. "Now, Detectives Ryan and Esposito have brought me up to speed, but I'm sure you'd like to hear their latest updates, Captain."

* * *

Beckett took a moment to clear her throat and gather her thoughts. Gates's unexpected presence had thrown her off at first, but now she was back in control and - despite what Castle had urged on the way over - determined to dive right into this case.

"Updates. Yes," she said coolly, looking at the detectives. "What've you got?"

Esposito cleared his throat, taking out his notebook. "I spoke with Dr. Garton, the psychologist who ran those phobia studies that Bailey participated in. He remembered her quite well. Said that she was very knowledgeable about phobias, and even after the two studies she participated in were over, she kept coming around, asking more questions. He eventually gave her a bunch of books on the subject."

"So this confirms what the therapist wrote in his notes," Ryan pointed out. "Bailey's interest in phobias goes way back."

Esposito nodded agreement. "Dr. Garton even said that he started to worry about it - thought she was crossing the line to an unhealthy obsession. But when he said that to her, she got mad, called him some names, and he never heard from her again."

"Well, that's no surprise," Castle commented. "Psychopaths hate being criticized or questioned. It's the same thing she did with the doctor who told her she was infertile."

"Right," Beckett agreed, her expression thoughtful. "Do we have anything on Bailey's current whereabouts?"

"Not yet," Ryan answered. "She hasn't been back to her apartment since we searched it."

"But the credit card is still active," said Vikram from the doorway. "May I?"

"Please," Beckett said, gesturing him into the room. He entered, holding an iPad.

"The credit card that Bailey took out in Susan Murphy's name has been used several times at fast-food restaurants in the area of the hospital yesterday and today," he reported. "Also, Susan Murphy's credentials were used to log in to the hospital system a few minutes ago. I asked their IT people to leave her account active and set up an alert."

"Okay," Beckett began, but Vikram wasn't finished.

"I also tracked down Megan Bailey's parents," he announced, preening slightly. "That wasn't easy, lemme tell you."

"They're still alive?"

"No, that's the thing," Vikram said. "The father died a while ago, but the mother - she just died last year. Early September."

Everyone in the room reacted to that, eyebrows going up, backs straightening.

"September?" Ryan repeated, saying what they were all thinking. "That's right before she started killing."

"What did the mother die of?" Gates asked.

"Liver failure," Vikram replied, and Beckett felt her eyes widening. She turned to look at Castle, and found him giving her a similar look.

"It fits," he said. "It all fits."

"What am I missing?" Gates wanted to know.

"When Bailey held Castle hostage a few months ago," Beckett explained, "she mentioned her parents being alcoholics. She said they were always too drunk to pay any attention to her."

"That makes sense," Vikram cut in. "From what I found, it looks like she hadn't spoken to either parent in years. Her mother had remarried and changed her name, which is why it took me so long to track her down."

"She cut off contact with them," Castle mused. "Probably as soon as she was old enough to move out. But then somehow she found out about her mother's death, and that must have been what sent her over the edge, started her killing spree."

"Captain?" said Marisa Aragon, poking her head through the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt."

"It's okay," Beckett said. "What've you got?"

"Dr. Parish called from the morgue," Aragon replied, moving into the room to give her report. "She's confirmed Susan Murphy's cause of death as an overdose of sook... suck... um…" she trailed off, looking sheepish. "That drug we found in the supply closet."

"Succinylcholine," Castle said. All heads in the room turned to stare at him. "What? I've been practicing."

Beckett shook her head and let that go. "Okay," she said, her brow furrowing as she stared at the surface of her desk, letting all the pieces of information arrange themselves in her mind. "Here's what I'm thinking," she went on, lifting her head and looking from one person to the next, making sure she had their full attention. "We need to be proactive with Bailey, take the offensive while we have her at a disadvantage. We need to draw her out."

"It's too dangerous," Castle said immediately, not to Beckett's surprise. This was a discussion the couple had already gone over at least once today. "She's slipping up - unpredictable. We can't take a chance of provoking her into something."

"That's _exactly_ the chance we have to take," Beckett countered steadily. "We're never going to get a better opportunity to catch her."

"Sir," Castle said in near-desperation, looking pleadingly at Gates. "You must see that this is too much. The woman is dangerous. She's already killed at least six people, and now she's after us."

Ryan and Esposito raised their eyebrows, exchanging a look. Given the history between Castle and Gates, they all knew how much it must be costing him to ask her, of all people, to back him up.

Gates hummed thoughtfully, studying both Castle and Beckett. "Naturally, I can't condone any course of action that puts any member of the NYPD at unnecessary risk," she said, "especially one who is already on maternity leave."

"Thank you," Castle exclaimed with relief. But his face fell when Gates shook her head, cutting off whatever else he might have been about to say.

"However," she said, drawing an anxious sigh from Castle, "I would like to hear the specifics of what Captain Beckett has in mind."

Beckett nodded slowly. "Thank you, sir." All the pieces were falling into place in her mind. She just needed to make sure the others were seeing the same picture.

"We all know what Bailey was planning," she began slowly. "It was obviously her plan to wait until our baby was born and then kidnap her." A chill went prickling up and down her arms at the thought of that maniac taking her baby... but she refused to be dragged down into the horrors of imagination. She took another breath and continued. "She's been working at the hospital for weeks, learning their routines, setting up her little room, getting everything ready, waiting for her moment."

"She's probably pretty mad that you're so overdue," Ryan commented. At everyone's looks, he grimaced and looked at the floor. "Sorry."

"The point is," Beckett said, pressing on, "we can assume that she still has the same goal in mind. She still wants our baby, and she wants us to suffer."

"You don't think she'll change her plan," Gates asked, "given that she knows we've found her secret room and her apartment?"

Beckett knew what her response was, but she looked to Ryan and Esposito, silently inviting them to answer the question instead. The two detectives shared a look, communicating without words, and it was Esposito who spoke.

"No," he said definitively. "She does know we're on to her, but she's not gonna change her plan. She's too obsessive about this thing, whatever weird vendetta she's created in her head against Beckett and Castle."

Ryan was nodding agreement. "Yeah," he picked up. "She knows that this will be her best chance, maybe her only chance to get her hands on their baby."

"Exactly," Beckett said, grateful that her detectives were on the same wavelength. "So this is _our_ best chance to catch her. We can set a trap for her, at the hospital."

"No," Castle blurted out, his face a stony scowl. "No way. We're not using you as bait."

"I'm not going to put myself and the baby in danger," Beckett placated, leaning across the desk to touch his hand. "I promised you that. But if we can fool her into thinking that I'm there, in labor, it'll draw her out."

"Yeah, it will," Ryan said, looking thoughtful. "She won't be able to resist the temptation." Esposito was nodding agreement also.

"It does make sense," said Castle reluctantly. "And as soon as she shows up, we just grab her."

"Mm... maybe," Beckett temporized. "But, babe, we've faced down enough killers together to know that we should definitely have a plan B. And it needs to be more than just you talking to her and distracting her so that she lets down her guard."

"Yeah." Castle managed a small smile at that. "I guess we can't expect that to work every time."

"We know her weaknesses, though," Beckett pointed out, "so we can figure out a way to exploit them. We have the upper hand here; let's use it."

"That all sounds promising," Gates commented from her seat on the couch, "but let's go back to the beginning for a moment, Captain. How are you intending to lure Bailey to the hospital, to make her think that you're having your baby, without putting yourself in the middle of things?"

"We use a decoy," said a voice. Beckett looked up in surprise.

It was Officer Aragon who had spoken. She flushed slightly as everyone's attention was drawn to her, but she lifted her chin, pushed back her shoulders, and said, "I'll do it, Captain. I'm not as tall as you, but put me in a wheelchair and that wouldn't be as obvious. I can wear your clothes and pretend to be you, to lure her out."

Esposito appeared to be choking on something; Ryan put a warning hand on his arm, and Javi grimaced, clearly struggling to hold his tongue.

Beckett felt a twinge of sympathy for her detective, but at the same time, the back of her neck was prickling with a familiar excitement. The plan was already forming in her mind, and it looked good. "It would be dangerous," she warned, but Aragon's jaw was set, determination shining in her eyes.

"I'm up to the challenge, Captain," she said firmly.

"It could work," Gates mused slowly, meeting Beckett's eyes. "This definitely has potential."

Beckett opened her mouth to reply, but all of a sudden another hard spasm hit her. This one was stronger yet than any of the ones before it, and the intense pain shot through her midsection so unexpectedly that she couldn't hold back a gasp. She gripped the edge of the desk, her mouth falling open as she breathed through it.

When the clenching sensation eased, what felt like hours later, she lifted her head to see all the faces in the room staring at her, stricken.

"Kate?" her husband gasped, anxiety flooding his features. "Are you okay?"

She heaved a deep sigh, her shoulders still tense from the wave of pain. "Rick... I think I'm in labor."


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe you've been in labor for a whole day and you didn't tell me."

"I haven't been in labor for a day," Beckett protested.

Rick scoffed, fidgeting on the hard plastic chair of the hospital waiting room. He stared at his wife in disbelief. "Kate, you just told me you've been having contractions since yesterday morning."

"Well..." She looked away, her cheeks coloring slightly. "I wasn't sure they were real contractions. I thought they might just be extra strong Braxton-Hicks."

"When you're a week past your due date?" he demanded. The way she winced made him realize that his tone was too harsh, and he sighed, running a hand over his face.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't be yelling at you. I'm sorry." He reached out and took Kate's hand.

"It's okay," she said softly, squeezing his fingers. "I'm sorry too. I should have said something sooner. I just didn't want to add another worry onto your pile."

"We're supposed to tell each other things, Beckett." He felt guilty for the blunt words, but it needed to be said.

Kate nodded, biting her lip. "I know. I'm really sorry. No more holding back, I promise."

"Good." He fidgeted some more, shifting on the uncomfortable seat, looking around the small waiting area with irritation. "What's taking them so long? They should be calling you back already."

"Rick." His wife squeezed his hand again to draw his attention back to her. "You know, we don't really have to be here. The contractions are still pretty far apart."

"I thought you said they had gotten down to ten minutes apart," he said, frowning. "Dr. Kowalewski said to call her at ten minutes."

"Yeah, to _call_ her, not rush to the hospital, babe." Kate drew their joined hands onto her belly, spreading his palm wide across the expanse of their baby. "I'm fine. We're both fine. We don't need to be here yet."

Castle opened his mouth to reply, but just then he spotted the doctor herself emerging from behind the registration desk. "Dr. K," he called, springing to his feet.

"Rick, Kate." The obstetrician smiled at them as she approached. "I told you I would see you again in less than a week, yes? How are we doing?"

"Fine," Kate began, but Rick interrupted, still jittery with nerves.

"She's feeling fine, Doctor, but the contractions are pretty strong, and they're about ten minutes apart."

"Yes, good, good," the doctor said, putting a gentle hand on his arm. "Calm down, Rick. You've done this before, no?"

"Well, it was a long time ago," he mumbled, feeling his ears heat up. They were both probably right. He needed to chill out. It was just the Megan Bailey case getting inside his head, making him nervous. "Sorry. I'm calm. I'm calm."

"Uh huh," Kate said skeptically. "But, Doctor, I meant to call you earlier and say that we're so sorry about Susan."

"Oh," said Rick, feeling like the world's biggest jerk. He had completely forgotten. "Yes, we really are. If there's anything we can do," he added earnestly.

"Thank you." Dr. Kowalewski paused briefly, blinking hard. "The whole office is so sad to lose her. She was wonderful nurse, wonderful person."

"She really was," Kate agreed softly.

"I will send you the funeral information," the doctor said, but then she straightened up, returning to her brisk professional tone. "But I am thinking you won't be able to come to funeral. Too busy with baby, yes?" Her smile was a little dimmer than usual, but still sincere.

"I guess you're right," Kate said, going a little pale. "But I'm sorry to waste your time, Doctor. We can-"

"No, no. Not waste," Dr. Kowalewski denied. "Since you're here, we do exam, just to be sure, yes? Come on back to exam room."

"Oh... well... okay," Kate said, looking at Castle. She seemed nervous all of a sudden, and he understood. Their baby's birth had seemed an abstraction, something coming in the hazy future, but now it was upon them, and everything suddenly seemed a lot more... _real_.

"Yeah," he said, giving Kate a reassuring smile. "Let's go get checked out." And he reached down to help her stand.

* * *

"Everything okay, Captain?" asked Aragon when Beckett and Castle emerged from the examination room at the hospital. Kate stopped short, her eyebrows going up in surprise when she saw her detectives and officer standing there in the waiting area.

"Fine. What are you guys doing here?" she asked, glancing at her husband to see him equally surprised.

"Getting everything set up for the plan," Esposito said. "While you were getting checked out, we talked to Gates, hammered out the details."

"You did?" Kate looked at Castle again. "Um... shouldn't we talk about this?"

"We talked about it already, didn't we?" Castle said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "It's like you said: this is our best opportunity to lure her out. Maybe the only one we'll get."

Kate felt her eyebrows rising toward her hairline. "So... you're okay with this, then?"

Castle's expression turned serious. "Only because you're going to stay out of it. Far, far out of it. That's part of the plan, right?" he added, turning toward the detectives.

"Of course," Esposito said, though he looked a little dubious.

"What did the doctor say?" Ryan asked.

"That I could go home," Beckett replied with a small smile. "Come back when the contractions are five minutes apart. But if we're really going to do this, there's no way that's happening."

"Do what?" asked Dr. Kowalewski, approaching from behind them. "Kate, you are still here. It is something to do with catching the person who killed Susan?"

"Yes," Kate said, turning to the doctor. "And in fact, if you don't mind, we're going to need your help."

* * *

"Hey, Castle," said Vikram, looking curiously around the maternity ward as he stepped off the elevator. "What's going on? Why'd you ask me to come down here? I assume it has something to do with the plan to catch Bailey."

"You assume right," Castle said, indicating for the other man to follow him. "Come on in here."

"Is this the supply closet where she had her whole kidnapping setup?" Vikram asked as Castle held open a door for him.

"Yep. We've cleared everything out, as you can see."

The room was indeed empty, except for a single swivel chair and a small desk holding a laptop and a large monitor. Vikram looked around uneasily at the bare windowless walls, the dingy hospital-gray floor, the harsh fluorescent lighting.

"I heard she had the door reinforced and soundproofed," he commented, turning to look at the inside of the door, which indeed showed signs of having been modified.

"That's right," Castle confirmed. "It's much more solid than the typical storage-room door, plus she covered over the little window, as you can see."

"Are you, uh..." Vikram gave a nervous chuckle. "Are you planning on locking me in here?"

"What?" Castle looked startled. "No! No, not you. Beckett." He shook his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I should have said. We want to convert this into a secure room for Beckett to stay in while we set our trap for Bailey. We're going to have uniforms guarding the door, and what we need you to do - Ahh, yes, thank you," he broke off as another man poked his head in the door. "Come in, come in."

"Hi," said the newcomer, who wore jeans, an X-Files t-shirt, and an official hospital ID badge. "I'm Peter, from the hospital IT department. Are you Vikram? We spoke on the phone earlier."

"Yes, hi, nice to meet you," Vikram said, shaking Peter's hand.

"Peter's agreed to give you access to the hospital's security camera feed," Castle explained. "And we need you to set up a camera in the labor room, so that Beckett can stay in here and keep an eye on the action without being in danger."

"I think I have all the equipment you'll need here," Peter said, indicating a large cardboard box on the floor outside the room. "And I set up login credentials for you on the laptop. Here, let me show you."

"I'll, uh, I'll just..." Castle's voice trailed off as he realized that the two techies, bent over the computer together, had already completely forgotten he existed. "I'll just let myself out."

He stepped out into the hallway, intent on going to find the hospital administrator's office where his wife and her team were going over the last details of the plan. But a chime from his pocket prompted him to redirect his steps, ducking into a nearby lounge to answer the phone.

"Hey, Alexis," he said, trying to sound carefree and unconcerned. "What's up?"

"Dad!" his daughter exclaimed. "Kyle told me what's going on. Why didn't you call to tell us that Beckett's in labor?"

"Oh." He winced; he should have contacted Alexis before her boyfriend had the chance. "Sorry, pumpkin. But it's early in her labor yet, so I didn't want to bother you guys."

"You promised me and Gram that you'd call us as soon as it started," Alexis chided gently. "But it's okay, I forgive you, because Kyle filled me in on the case and everything too." Concern filled her voice. "You guys are being careful, right? I mean really seriously careful, not like your usual."

Castle huffed indignantly. "Our usual? I resent the implication, young lady."

"Seriously, Dad. This is not the time for another of your and Beckett's famous brushes with death," Alexis said, and she sounded so worried that his chest constricted briefly with mingled guilt and pride.

"I know, honey. I'm sorry for joking," he said softly. "I promise you we're being safe. We're not going to let anything happen to your sister."

Alexis was silent for a long moment. "I can't believe I'm going to have a sister," she managed at last, the awe in her voice drawing a smile to his lips.

"I know," he responded. "And soon, too. Listen, pumpkin, let Gram know what's going on, but don't come to the hospital yet, okay? I'll tell you when it's time. I promise."

"Okay. What about Kate's dad? Should I call him too?"

"Oh..." God, he had completely forgotten about Jim. "No, I guess Kate should do that herself. I'll remind her. Thanks, sweetheart."

"You're welcome. Be safe, Dad. I love you."

"Love you too. See you soon."

* * *

"Okay," said Dr. Sutherland, hitting one last key on his keyboard as Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, and Aragon watched. "Captain Beckett, you're officially admitted to the maternity floor. Anyone who looks up your patient record in the system will see that you're listed as being in labor room two."

"Thank you, Doctor," Beckett said.

"And thank you for providing extra scrubs," Ryan added. "We've got officers stationed throughout the maternity floor, dressed as hospital staff."

"Let me know if there's anything else I can do," the administrator said, though he looked a little pale at the thought.

"You better get to the secure room," Esposito told Beckett. She nodded.

"On my way."

As they exited Dr. Sutherland's office, Officer Hernandez straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall. Beckett nodded to him, and he fell into step behind her, heading for the elevators.

"I'm going to check in with Gates," Ryan said. "Just make sure everything's going smoothly at the 12th."

"Dude, she ran our precinct for four years," Esposito reminded him, striving for a light tone. Ryan gave him a grimace that was probably supposed to be a smile in return.

"Yeah, but still," he mumbled, and turned away, lifting his phone to his ear.

"Hey," Espo said, lowering his voice as he turned to Aragon. "Listen... you're sure about this?"

"Of course." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not going soft on me, are you?"

"No, no. It's just, you know, if anything happens to you, Richie's totally gonna kick my ass."

Marisa laughed softly. "Nah, you're good, Javi. He likes you now."

"Seriously, though," Javier said quietly. "You know you don't have to, like, prove anything, right?"

"That's not what this is about," she responded. "Look, any cop would do just about anything for their captain, right? And Beckett... she's special."

"That's for sure," Espo had to agree.

"She's been so welcoming since I came to the 12th," Marisa went on. "And when we told her about us, she didn't even bat an eye. You know?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I get it. But, uh..." He trailed off, pressing his lips together, looking around the busy hospital hallway, looking everywhere except at his girlfriend. His whole body felt like it was buzzing with anxiety, and he didn't know how to say what he needed to say.

"Hey." Aragon's hand was on his arm, grounding him, forcing his attention back to her. "What?" she asked gently.

"I just... this Megan Bailey," he said slowly, groping for words. "Her thing is fear, right? And she figured me out pretty fast. Figured out that my biggest fear is not being able to protect the people I care about, my family." He took a deep breath. "The people I love."

His pulse was pounding in his ears, but he managed to lift his eyes and meet Marisa's.

"I know you're a cop, you're tough," he went on. "You can take care of yourself. Don't need me going all caveman like it's my job to take care of you. But... I can't help it. I'm scared," he admitted in a near-whisper.

Marisa's eyes were wide and serious. She shifted closer to him, slipping her hand up his arm until it came to rest on his shoulder.

"Javi, it's okay," she said softly. "Hey, I'm scared too, but we got this. We can do this." A tiny smile played around the edges of her lips. "And, and I hear what you aren't saying too."

Somehow, her admission gave him the courage he needed. At last it was time to let the words free. "I love you," he whispered.

The smile bloomed fully across her face at that. "I love you too," she whispered back. Esposito felt his own lips turning upward entirely against his will.

Aragon leaned in toward him, her eyes on his mouth, but suddenly stopped, catching sight of something behind him. She quickly took a step backward, her cheeks reddening.

"Hey, LT," she greeted awkwardly. Esposito groaned internally but forced himself to repeat the greeting, along with a nod to the approaching officer.

"Hey, guys," LT replied. "I got the stuff you needed, Aragon. It's all here," he added, handing over a small duffel bag.

"Thanks," she said, taking the bag, as Espo closed his eyes briefly, forcing his mind back onto the case. "I should, uh-"

"Yeah," he nodded. "You go get ready. We'll see you in there."

"Right." She paused, awkward again, conscious of LT's presence and the fact that they were in a public space. After a moment of hesitation, she leaned in and brushed her lips quickly over Esposito's cheek, then pulled away, giving him a soft smile.

"Be careful," was all he said, and she nodded and moved away.

"Hey," said Ryan, coming back over with his phone in his hand. "So everything's fine at the precinct, and we're good to go. We should go get into posi-"

He broke off as both of their phones chimed in unison. Surprised, Esposito pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen as Ryan looked at his.

The text had been sent to both of them, coming from the chief administrator in charge of NYPD promotional exams. It was short and sweet: _One spot just came available on upcoming sergeant exam. Do you want it?_

"One spot?" Esposito read aloud, lifting wide eyes to meet his partner's. He saw immediately that Ryan was feeling the same conflicted emotions that he was. Only one spot on the exam, and there were two of them. What were they going to do?

"I - I gotta, um," said Ryan suddenly, nervously, and turned away, lifting his phone to his ear yet again.

Esposito wasn't trying to eavesdrop, really he wasn't. But his partner's reaction had gotten him curious, and he couldn't help overhearing a bit of the conversation.

"Yeah, hi, this is Kevin Ryan again," he heard. "Yeah, I was just wondering, uh, about that thing we were discussing earlier - is it still available?"

Esposito turned away, frowning. It was none of his business, he told himself. But he looked down at his phone, at the text from the exam administrator, and his frown deepened.

They needed to talk about this. But Ryan was being weirdly mysterious, and Espo just wasn't sure what to do.

* * *

"It's not too late to back out, you know."

Aragon glanced over her shoulder at Beckett, who was sitting on the swivel chair in the secure room, watching her. "I know," the officer replied calmly. Turning back, she returned her attention to the small mirror she had hung on the wall, where she was carefully arranging her hair to resemble Beckett's. "How's this?"

"It looks fine," Beckett murmured, biting her lip.

The idea of letting her officer go into a dangerous situation in her place didn't sit right, but she knew that their plan was solid. And she had to admit - with each new contraction that gripped her, making her gasp each time - that she was in no condition to take on the role they had given Aragon in this game of cat-and-mouse that they were playing with Megan Bailey.

No, she reminded herself as she watched Aragon button up her blouse - one of Beckett's maternity blouses, borrowed from her closet for the occasion - this was how it had to be. And Marisa knew the risks. She was a cop, and a damn good one. She could handle it.

"This feels so weird," Aragon commented, turning from the mirror, drawing Beckett out of her musings. The officer patted the false belly she was wearing under Beckett's blouse. "Never expected to be pregnant again," she added, her chuckle more nervous than amused at her own joke as she cast a look at Beckett.

"It looks fine," Beckett said again. Then, feeling that it wasn't enough, she added, "You did a really good job with the hair. Too bad about the shoes, though."

Beckett's shoes had turned out to be the wrong size, so Marisa was wearing a pair of her own - black flats that Beckett suspected had been buried at the back of her closet. They weren't exactly the kind of shoes an NYPD officer would have much occasion to wear on the job.

"Do you think they're awful?" Marisa asked with a touch of anxiety, looking down at her feet. Or trying to, anyway; the bulk of the fake belly got in the way, and the two women shared a chuckle of commiseration.

"No, no. They're fine," Beckett assured her.

Just then the door opened, and Castle and Esposito entered, wearing almost identical expressions of worry.

"Everything okay in here?" Castle asked, while Espo blinked and did a double-take at his girlfriend's expanded waistline.

"Whoa. That's just freaky," he commented. Marisa narrowed her eyes at him.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Nothing," he denied quickly, wincing as Castle's elbow connected with his ribs. "Ow, dude, seriously."

"You look great, Marisa," Castle said sincerely, giving the officer a smile. "Really, the resemblance is uncanny." At her reaction, he turned to his wife with a grin. "Hey, she's even got your eye-roll down pat."

"You make it easy, babe," Kate teased gently, reaching for his hand. When he gave it to her, she squeezed it and used it to tug him closer.

"How's my girl?" Castle asked softly, crouching down to bring himself to her eye level. "The contractions still steady?"

"Yes, down to nine minutes apart. Don't worry about me, Rick," she said, meeting his eyes. "You need to get going. It's time."

"I..." He hesitated, his grip tightening on her hand. "Maybe I should... should stay here with you. Just in case anything-"

"No," Beckett interrupted, shaking her head. "Come on, you have to play your part here. It'll look really weird if you're not with me - I mean, fake-me - when she goes into the delivery room."

"I know, but..." He paused, staring at the floor, and then sighed. "No, you're right. There are guards outside the door, and the plan is solid. It's going to be fine, right?"

"It is." Beckett reached down with her free hand and took hold of his chin, gently lifting his face toward hers. "Remember, we're not giving in to the fear. It's what she wants us to do."

"Yeah." Castle's expression cleared, determination clearing out the uncertainty from his features. "Right. No fear."

"I love you," she murmured. He smiled softly, leaning up to touch his lips to hers.

"I love you too. See you soon."

* * *

"All set, Kate?" asked Dr. Kowalewski, playing her part, as an anxious Rick wheeled the woman in the wheelchair toward labor room two. Aragon, her chin bent to her chest so that her hair obscured her face, nodded.

"The contractions are coming faster," Castle said. He didn't need to call on his skills as his mother's son to create the nervous quaver in his voice. He gripped the handles of the wheelchair tightly in an attempt to control the trembling of his fingers.

"Good, good. Right in here," the doctor said, gesturing him through the door.

Three other women in nurse's scrubs - two of them undercover cops - followed them into the labor room. Castle imagined his wife sitting in the secure room, with uniforms stationed outside the door, watching all of this on the monitor that Vikram had set up. He fought the sudden ridiculous urge to smile and wave at the camera tucked into a corner of the ceiling.

"Here we are. Right up here," said the doctor, helping Aragon get out of the wheelchair and climb onto the hospital bed. The fake pregnant belly looked very real to Rick's eyes, and it was incredibly disconcerting to see another woman in his wife's clothing.

But Marisa settled herself back against the mattress, which had been raised up to hold her in a sitting position, and gave Rick a calm nod, which he was surprised to find reassuring.

Dr. Kowalewski turned on the CD player on a side table, and music filled the room - a lively string quartet that was one of Beckett's favorites for relaxing background music. The music would provide cover for their voices, just in case anyone happened to be listening in.

"Okay?" the doctor asked, turning the volume up slightly.

"All good," Aragon said coolly, though the skin around her eyes was pinched with tension. "What now?"

Castle took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Now... we wait."


	5. Chapter 5

_Dear fans: Thank you once again for your kind words and support for this project! Please see our tumblr for a full list of thank-you's to all of the wonderful people who helped to make Season 9 possible._

 _Although we have already stated that we won't be doing a Season 10, we are actively working on a different plan that will allow us to keep these characters and this story going. Stay tuned for an announcement coming soon._

 _Now, on with the season finale..._

* * *

"Hey, Kev," said his partner quietly. The two detectives were squeezed together in a small closet attached to the labor room. It wasn't the tightest quarters they'd ever been in for a stakeout, but it was close.

"Yeah?" Ryan replied, trying to sound calmer than he felt right now.

"Is everything okay?" Esposito spoke hesitantly, and Ryan twisted around, trying to see his partner's face in the dim gloom of the closet. "I mean... not this Bailey thing, we're all freaked about that," Espo added with a wry twist of his lips. "But you've been... weird since we got that text."

Ryan swallowed, forcing the moisture down his dry throat. "Yeah," he managed in response. "Listen, Javi, I've been thinking... you should take the spot in the exam."

"What?" Esposito kept his voice quiet, but the shock in his tone was unmistakable. "No, man, you need it more than me. You've got a family to take care of; you need the money. I can wait until next year's exam."

"No." Ryan was aching to tell his partner about the change he was considering making in his life... but the time just wasn't right yet. It was hard keeping this from Espo, but he needed to be sure. "I want you to take it," was all he said. "I'm serious, man. You deserve it. You're better sergeant material than I am anyway."

"That's bull," Espo scoffed, but then he fell silent for a moment, thinking it over. "You mean it, huh?" he said at last.

"Yeah." Ryan nodded, trying not to think about all the changes that were coming. For both of them. "Yeah, I do."

"And you're gonna tell me what's going on with you, right?" Espo added, concern creeping into his voice again. "Soon?"

"Yeah. Soon," Ryan promised. In the small space he felt more than saw his partner's thoughtful nod.

"Okay."

* * *

Beckett was comfortable enough in the secure room, sitting in the desk chair with a bottle of water to hand. But it was strange watching on the monitors and seeing her husband trade awkward jokes with Aragon and the others in the delivery room. Her phone sat in her hand, her fingers itching to use it, but she and Castle had agreed not to call or text each other unless absolutely necessary.

Still, as the minutes ticked by, her restlessness grew. They needed to allow enough time for it to be believable, but the gathering tension was hard to bear.

Another contraction began, and Kate looked at her watch, trying to focus on counting the seconds as she breathed through the pain. 45 seconds, give or take, and as soon as the contraction had passed, her thumb was swiping across the screen of her phone, fingers trembling slightly as she dialed.

She lifted the phone to her ear and listened to it ringing. She only heard one ring and then the beginning of a second before the line connected.

"Katie?" said an eager voice, soft and familiar in her ear, filling her with warmth. "Is it time? Are you having the baby?"

"Hey, Dad," she murmured, not bothering to hold back the smile that spread across her face in the quiet room. "Um, well, yes, I'm in labor. But there's a complication."

"A what? Are you okay? Is it the baby?" Alarm rang through her father's voice and she immediately felt guilty for her incautious choice of words.

"No, no. Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she said hastily. "Nothing's wrong with Lily, or me. We're fine. It's just..." She paused, already sighing at what she knew his reaction would be. "It's a case. We're trying to catch a serial killer."

"You're working a case while you're in labor?" Jim said, giving a little snort of disbelief. "Katie, I know that slowing down isn't in your nature, but-"

"I know," she answered, shaking her head ruefully. "I'm not working the case myself, Dad, but- well, it's a long story. I just wanted to let you know that we're at the hospital, but it's going to be a while yet before anything happens. I don't want you to worry."

"I'll never stop worrying about you, honey," he said, the smile evident in his voice. "It's a parent thing. You'll learn soon enough."

Kate smiled. "Okay. Well, don't worry too much, then. And, and don't come to the hospital yet, okay? It's too soon. We'll let you know."

"Okay, Katie. I'll be on the edge of my seat."

Kate was still smiling as they said their goodbyes and ended the call. She kept her eyes on the monitor, watching Castle make small talk with Dr. Kowalewski and Aragon and the nurses - the real one and the fake ones. They all moved around the room as they chatted, and she remembered belatedly that she was supposed to move around also. Supposedly, it would help her labor progress. She put her phone down and pushed herself to her feet, suppressing a groan. It felt a little silly to walk around in circles in the small space of the supply closet, but she did it: five laps clockwise, then five laps counterclockwise, watching the screen the whole time.

A soft knock and the sound of the doorknob turning made her jump, her hand automatically flying to her hip, where her gun usually resided. Of course, that space was empty now, but before panic could blossom, LT's voice came through the opening door.

"Captain? You've got a visitor."

"What?" she asked, confused.

LT pushed the door open farther, making space for another wheeled office chair, which he guided through the doorway. And coming in behind it, Kate saw a face that made her heart lift and a smile spring back onto her lips.

"Lanie! What are you doing here?"

"Hey, girl," said her friend with a wide smile. "Castle called and filled me in, asked me to come and sit with you. You shouldn't be alone while you're in labor."

"It's just the early stages," Kate deflected, but she couldn't deny she was happy to see a friendly face. "Thanks for coming, Lanie," she added softly, leaning over to give her friend a hug.

"I wouldn't miss it," Lanie replied, staring over Kate's shoulder at the computer monitor. "So what exactly are we looking at here?"

Kate pushed Lanie's chair over next to hers. "Come, sit," she said. "I'll catch you up."

* * *

"All right. I think this is long enough," Dr. Kowalewski said, after what felt like a year. Everyone in the delivery room, including Ryan and Esposito in the closet, immediately went on alert.

"Are you sure?" Castle asked nervously, and the doctor nodded firmly.

"Yes. Was short labor for first-time mom, but is okay."

She wheeled a mobile bassinet from the corner and spent some time fussing with blankets, carefully arranging them in the bassinet to look like a baby. The nurse had brought a tiny infant hat, which they placed at the top of the roll of blankets, stuffing another blanket into it to form the shape of a head. To Castle's eyes, the fake baby looked reasonably realistic.

"Ready?" said Dr. Kowalewski. He nodded slowly.

"Ready."

They opened the door and emerged, Rick pushing the bassinet with the fake baby in it, the doctor walking alongside, making notes on her clipboard. Rick kept his eyes on the little hat, trying to arrange his features into an expression of joy and adoration. It felt completely artificial and he was convinced that everyone looking at him could tell that he was acting, but he pressed on.

"Right in here, Rick," the doctor said, guiding him through the door that led into the nursery. He lifted his eyes from the bundle of blankets and cast his gaze along the row of bassinets containing real babies. The sight brought a true smile to his face at last, though only for a moment before anxieties flooded back in.

"Let's put her right here," Dr. Kowalewski said, continuing the charade. They wheeled the empty bassinet into a spot in the corner, sliding it into place with exaggerated care.

"Now," the obstetrician began, a little uncertainly, but Castle's attention was on the doorway. As if on cue, a figure in nurse's scrubs appeared there: Detective Karpowski. She gave Castle an urgent nod and pointed back the way they had come.

"Go!" she stage-whispered, and Castle didn't need to be told twice. He was out of the nursery and down the corridor at top speed.

* * *

Hidden away in the closet, Ryan could hear Castle and the doctor leaving the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, he heard footsteps and knew that the nurse and the two female cops dressed as nurses were gathering around Aragon, taking up positions on either side of the bed.

"Remember," he heard Aragon say quietly, "let her get all the way over to me. We don't want her to get suspicious until she's in range." Ryan heard the other cops murmur their agreement.

"You just get out of her way," Marisa added, and he knew she was talking to the nurse. "You said she'd recognize you, right?"

"Yeah," the other woman agreed, her voice sounding nervous even from where Ryan was. "I mean, I've seen her around on this floor a million times. I can't believe I never knew-"

"Hey, there was no way you could have known," Aragon said reassuringly. "She fooled everyone."

It was quiet then, tense. Ryan could feel his partner beside him, straining his ears the same way Ryan was, listening intently for any sign that their prey had taken the bait.

And then it came. They heard the door open, and footsteps moving across the floor toward the bed where Aragon was lying.

* * *

"Is that her?" Lanie gasped, watching with Kate as the monitor showed the figure in scrubs entering the room. A syringe was visible in her hand.

"Yes," Kate said, her voice tight with apprehension. "That's her."

The two friends watched the woman move toward the bed. The nurse flashed her a smile and moved out of the way. Aragon had a handkerchief in her hand, pretending to wipe tears from her eyes, holding it in such a way as to completely obscure her face.

The intruder reached for the IV line that was taped to Aragon's other arm. She readied the syringe, but then the end of the IV caught her eye. Looking more closely, she discovered that there was no needle in Aragon's flesh; the end of the IV was taped flat on the skin, but empty, useless.

Startled, Megan Bailey looked up, just in time to see Aragon drop the handkerchief and reach for her.

"What?" Bailey shouted, her voice ringing out so loudly through the screen that both Kate and Lanie jumped. "You're not Beckett!"

The real nurse leapt out of the way as Aragon and the other two officers tried to grab Bailey. Aragon was hampered by the fake belly and the hospital sheet laid over her legs; the officer on Bailey's side of the bed grabbed for her, but Bailey waved the syringe at her and she flinched backward instinctively. The other officer, on the other side of the bed, hesitated when she saw her partner's alarm.

"Megan Bailey, you're under arrest for murder," Aragon exclaimed, still struggling to free herself, as the closet door burst open and Esposito and Ryan surged out to join the fray. At almost the same instant, the door from the hallway opened again and Castle rushed in. All three men converged on the bed almost in perfect sync.

But abruptly all action in the room stilled as Bailey reached under her scrubs and pulled out a gun, immediately putting it to Aragon's temple. A loud gasp burst from Beckett's throat and she found herself leaning forward, her hand coming up as if she could snatch the gun away through the screen.

"Nobody move," Bailey ordered. The harsh click of the safety turning off echoed through the room as everyone froze in place.

* * *

"Stay calm. Just stay calm, okay?" said Esposito in what he hoped was a tone of voice that matched his words. He tried not to focus on the barrel of the gun pressed against his girlfriend's head. He forced his eyes to Bailey's, suppressing a shudder at the open hostility he found there.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she spat furiously. "Where's Beckett and the baby? Where the hell are they?"

Espo scoffed. "You think we're going to tell you? Come on."

"Put the gun down, Megan," Ryan added steadily. Esposito briefly marveled at how ice-cold his partner's tone was, and wondered if his sounded the same, despite his nerves. They stood shoulder to shoulder, drawing on each other's presence to give them strength. "It's over," Ryan went on. "You've lost. It's time for you to pay for all those people you killed."

"It's not over till I say it is," she shot back as Castle stepped up beside the two detectives, taking his place at their side. "You're all going to do what I say, or your officer here gets her brains blown out."

Esposito flinched at the words - he couldn't help it. He saw triumph flash across Bailey's face and mentally kicked himself for letting her see his reaction.

"Yeah," she said, straightening her shoulders, sneering at them. If she had seemed shaken when they ambushed her, it had been short-lived; her confidence was back now. She turned her head to look at the other occupants of the room.

"You two," she said to the pair of female officers in scrubs. "You're cops, aren't you?"

"Yes," one of them admitted on a near-whisper, while the other could only nod.

"Out," Bailey ordered, gesturing toward the door with her hand that was still holding the syringe. "Out! Go!"

The two cops stared wide-eyed at her, then at Esposito. He gave them a nod, and they complied, dashing for the door and leaving the room.

Megan looked around again, now registering the face of the nurse, who was cowering in the corner. "You!" Bailey barked. "Grace, right?"

"Y-Yes," the nurse whimpered.

"Get over here."

"Don't hurt her!" Castle blurted out, startling Esposito. He glanced sideways at his friend, finding the writer rigid and pale, hands clenched into fists at his sides, his eyes wide. Esposito saw sweat forming on Castle's forehead as he tried to fight off the incipient panic attack.

Ryan reached out a hand and put it lightly on Castle's arm. "Hey," he muttered, meeting Castle's eyes. "Stay cool, man."

"Yeah," Bailey sneered, "stay cool, Castle. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt Grace. She's nothing." She turned a sickly-sweet, insincere smile on the nurse. "She's just going to do this one thing for me, isn't she?"

"Wh-What?" Grace stammered.

Megan thrust the syringe into Grace's hand and gestured toward Aragon, holding the gun rock-steady with her other hand. "Inject it," she ordered. "All of it."

"No!" Esposito exclaimed, surging forward, but both Ryan and Castle grabbed for his arms and stopped him. He felt his face twisting in helpless frustration as he relented and let his friends pull him back. "Oh god," he groaned, staring at Marisa's face. She stared back at him, her eyes wide and dark with trepidation.

Grace was crying, shaking her head in protest as tears flowed down her cheeks. "No, I... don't make me do this, please."

"Do it!" Bailey yelled, making everyone in the room flinch. "Do it now or I'll just shoot her and her blood will be on your hands!"

"It's okay," Aragon said, speaking up for the first time since the standoff had begun. Her voice quavered, but she managed a small smile for the nurse. "Hey, Grace, it's okay. Just do what she says and you'll be fine."

Esposito clenched his fists so hard that he could feel his fingernails digging into his palms. The urge to rescue his girlfriend was unbearable, but he couldn't do anything while Bailey still had that gun pressed to Marisa's forehead.

* * *

Castle stood absolutely still, his heart pounding as he watched the nurse fumble with the syringe. He didn't know how much longer he could keep the panic at bay, but he kept reminding himself of what Kate had said: that they couldn't give in to the fear. That would give Megan Bailey the upper hand, and that wasn't an option. They needed to stop her, here and now. He couldn't stand the thought of starting their new life as parents with the threat of Bailey's vendetta hanging over their heads. Only putting her safely - and permanently - behind bars would allow him to rest easy.

"This wasn't my plan," Bailey commented, her voice eerily flat as she watched Grace bend over Aragon's arm, "but it'll do." She looked Aragon in the eye. "You wanted to take your captain's place? Fine. You can die for her, then. You can die the same way she should have died, and all of them-" she gestured with her free hand toward the men standing frozen a few feet away, "-can watch, and know that it's all their fault."

Grace let out another sob at that, and Megan again gave her that fake-sweet smile, which made Castle cringe. "Oh, don't worry, honey," the killer crooned. "You're not giving her a fatal dose. No, I'll do that myself, when I'm good and ready."

"I'm sorry," Grace whimpered, addressing Aragon, who shook her head reassuringly.

"It's okay," the officer said, although her voice trembled. "Just get it over with."

Bailey watched with a cruel smirk on her face, her hand holding the gun firmly to Aragon's temple, as Grace, sniffling, carefully inserted the needle into Aragon's arm and injected its contents.

"Oh God," she said through tears when she was done, pulling the needle out and bandaging the injection site. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You did good, Grace," Bailey said, still wearing her nasty smirk. "Look, it's working already."

Sure enough, Castle could see that the drug was already taking effect. Aragon slumped back against the raised back of the hospital bed, her hands falling loose and limp in her lap. Her eyes were still open, but her body lay motionless on the bed. Castle knew from his reading that the drug had now rendered Marisa completely incapable of any movement, but she was still awake and aware of everything that was happening. It was horrifying to see, and he couldn't completely repress his shudder.

"Yeah, take a good look," Bailey taunted, still holding her gun to Aragon's head as she watched the writer and the two detectives react. "Make sure you remember every detail, so you can tell Beckett all about how this cop died on her behalf."

* * *

"No! I can't let that happen," Beckett gasped, pushing herself up out of the chair. Lanie's eyes were wide with horror as she jumped up also, grabbing her friend's arm.

"Kate, where the hell do you think you're going? Don't be crazy," Lanie implored. "You're supposed to stay in here, stay safe. You're in labor, for goodness sake."

"I can't just sit here and watch her kill one of my officers," Kate protested. Her knees felt wobbly and she leaned her weight briefly against Lanie, fighting to steady her body and control her breathing as she felt another contraction coming on. "I have to go in there, Lanie. I have t-"

Her words were cut off as the contraction began, and she squeezed her eyes shut, mentally counting off the seconds as the pain briefly blotted out everything else in her awareness.

When she opened her eyes again, Lanie was watching her with deep concern. "Honey, that was only six minutes since the last one," her friend murmured. "You have to stay put, Kate. Look at you, you can barely walk."

"I'm fine. I'm okay now," she insisted, breathing deeply. "I have six minutes to stop this, and I'm doing it."

"Kate!" But Lanie couldn't hold her back. She snatched her phone off the table, wheeled around, and yanked the door open.

"Captain?" said LT, startled, when she burst out of the room. He and Kyle Hernandez were positioned on either side of the door, and Kate took advantage of their surprise to push between them, heading down the corridor.

"Wait! Captain, wait!" Kyle exclaimed, and both officers rushed after her, with Lanie close behind. But she waved the officers off and shook off the hand that Lanie placed on her arm again.

"No," she said, struggling to hold back the desperation from her tone. "No, don't try to stop me. I have to do this."

* * *

Castle startled when his phone chimed in his pocket, but the sound brought a strange gleam into Megan Bailey's eyes.

"Is that Beckett?" she demanded eagerly. "Where have you hidden her from me? Answer it!"

His hand trembling, Castle reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. He swiped it on and brought it to his ear, keeping his eyes on Bailey.

"Kate?" he rasped, his throat dry. "What's going on? Why are you-"

"I'm coming in," his wife interrupted. "Tell her, Castle. Tell her I'm coming in, right now."

"No! Kate, no," he exclaimed in horror, but it was too late. The door opened and Beckett walked in.

Bailey's face lit up with excitement. "Oh, Captain," she cried. "How nice of you to join us. You're just in time to watch your little officer here die."

Esposito gave another groan of dismay, quickly cut off, but the others ignored it as Beckett slowly moved farther into the room. "That's not going to happen," she said, breathing heavily. She held the door open and beckoned to Grace. Megan Bailey didn't react, her eyes fixated on Beckett, as the nurse skittered across the room and fled out the door.

"Kate," Castle said, his voice strangled, throat constricted with dismay. "You were supposed to stay in the secure room. You can't be here."

"I'm sorry, babe," she breathed, reaching out, wrapping her hand around his bicep. "I'm so sorry. I just couldn't sit there and watch her do this."

"You were watching?" Bailey repeated, her smile returning, more hateful than ever. "That's just perfect, Captain. I'm so glad you haven't missed any of the show."

Her smile dropped away then, her eyes narrowing ferociously. She moved closer to the bed where Aragon lay immobilized.

"Are you ready to watch this woman die?"

Castle looked sideways at his wife, her hand still on his arm. She met his eyes, then looked past him to Ryan and Esposito, making eye contact with each of them in turn.

"No," Beckett said then, very calmly. "That's not what's going to happen."

She nodded to Ryan, who nodded back and took a step backward, then another.

"What?" Bailey demanded angrily. "Don't you see who has the gun here?"

"Yeah, it's you," Ryan spoke up unexpectedly. "But we're not scared of you any more."

Beckett tugged lightly on Castle's arm, pulling him backward, toward the door. He shifted to the side, putting his body between his wife and the killer, as they moved slowly away.

"See, we figured you out, Megan," he said, keeping his voice steady with an effort. "You know all of our worst fears, and yeah, we _were_ scared of you because of that."

Esposito was the last one to start moving, with a lingering look at Aragon's pale face. His expression set in hard lines, he turned around and walked toward the door with the others. Megan Bailey's jaw dropped; she was momentarily struck speechless as she watched them retreat.

"But you don't scare us anymore," Beckett continued, still backing away. "Because we remembered that we're strongest as a team, and that's how we realized what _your_ biggest fear is."

"Being ignored," Castle said. "Being unnoticed."

"Unloved," Ryan added pointedly, making Megan flinch.

"Shut up," she said loudly, but everyone in the room could see that they had struck a nerve. "You don't know anything about me!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Esposito blurted out suddenly. "We don't care. Your childhood trauma, obsessions, whatever. It doesn't matter. We don't care about any of that, because we don't care about you."

Bailey flinched again, her body actually reeling backward slightly as if she had been physically struck by the words.

"What you wanted most was our attention," Beckett went on, as the four of them continued their slow withdrawal. "So we're taking that away from you. We're leaving. Do whatever you want."

"Unlike you, we all have people who care about us," Castle added, watching coolly as the words hit home, making the killer wince yet again. "They're more important than you."

Ryan's hand gripped the door handle and twisted. The door opened.

"Wait!" Bailey cried, her face twisted with anger and hatred. "I'm going to kill your officer here! Don't you care about that?"

Beckett shrugged. "Aragon knew the risks when she volunteered for this assignment." She took a long look at Aragon's motionless body, her slack face. "Sorry, Marisa. The NYPD appreciates your sacrifice."

Ryan pulled the door open farther, and all four of them turned their backs on Bailey, preparing to file out through the doorway.


	6. Chapter 6

"No!" Megan Bailey shouted, her voice hoarse with rage. "You can't do this to me. I won't let you just leave!"

Her hand holding the gun swung up, pointing wildly at the four of them as they prepared to leave the room. Castle's skin prickled fiercely; his breathing was shallow, his pulse racing, but he fought the panic with everything he had, forcing himself to continue moving toward the door.

As soon as the gun was in motion, Marisa Aragon's arm came up, delivering a solid chop to Bailey's wrist. The killer cried out in pain, the gun falling from her fingers as Aragon surged up off the hospital bed and swiftly put Bailey in a headlock.

"No!" Bailey cried again, thrashing wildly in Aragon's grip. "No, what have you done? Let me go!"

Castle pressed Beckett back into a corner of the room, shielding her body with his as Ryan and Esposito dashed across the room. Espo hurried to grab Bailey's flailing arms and pin them behind her back, while Ryan quickly retrieved the gun from the floor, snapping the safety back on and sticking it into his pocket.

"Bet you didn't know there's an antidote to sook- whatever," Aragon panted, struggling to hold Bailey still as Ryan took out his handcuffs. "I can't pronounce it either, but it turns out, if you give someone this buttery-something in advance, it counteracts the effects of the other one."

"Butyrylcholinesterase," Castle muttered to himself as cops began to flood into the room, many of them still disguised in scrubs. Castle and Beckett stayed to the side as several of the uniformed officers took over from Aragon and Esposito, holding the still-struggling Bailey so that Ryan could slap the cuffs on her. Beckett's hand was still wrapped around Castle's arm, her grip tight, and he could feel the trembling in her fingers.

Espo was in motion again as soon as the uniforms took over, helping Aragon off the bed and wrapping her in a tight hug, heedless of the fake pregnant belly still strapped to her body.

Bailey was still shouting threats and curses as a group of uniforms, led by Ryan, hauled her to her feet and marched her out the door. Castle turned to his wife, his mouth beginning to open on _are you okay?_ , but the look on her face stopped him in his tracks. Her expression was one of shock, her skin pale, eyes and mouth wide.

"Kate?" he gasped, staring at her. "What happened?" The gun hadn't gone off, she couldn't be injured, she couldn't-

She blinked at him a few times, and then her gaze shifted downward, toward the floor. Castle's eyes followed hers, and he looked in stupefaction at the small puddle of wetness beginning to spread between her feet.

"I think my water broke," she exclaimed, and then her grip on his arm tightened even further as pain flashed across her features. "Oh my god," she moaned, her other hand going to her belly, her body swaying toward him unsteadily.

"Oh god," he repeated, catching her around the waist, supporting her weight against his body. He caught Kyle Hernandez's eye in the sea of officers and called, "Get the doctor back in here!"

Kyle's eyes went as big as saucers and he dashed for the door.

"Okay, Kate, you're okay. Come on," Castle soothed, guiding his wife back toward the hospital bed that Aragon had just vacated. "Here. Sit."

"Rick," she groaned, breathing heavily. "I, I changed my mind. I can't do this."

"Yes you can," Castle assured her, feeling the beginning of a smile blooming on his face. The panic attack that had been threatening just a few minutes ago had dissolved in the flood of excitement filling his veins. At last it was time to meet their child. "Of course you can, Beckett," he said, letting his smile grow as he helped her onto the bed. "You just faced down a cold-blooded killer, unarmed, and defeated her. Pushing out a baby? No sweat."

* * *

"Kyle!"

Kyle Hernandez turned to see his girlfriend and her grandmother rushing down the corridor. "Alexis! I didn't think they called you yet."

"What? Who called me?" she said breathlessly. "No, we- we just decided to come down. Dad said to wait, but-"

"But who can sit around at home when the newest member of our family is about to arrive?" Martha gushed.

"Did they catch the serial killer yet?" Alexis asked, eyes wide as she looked around. The maternity floor was relatively calm now, the police almost all cleared out; the people in scrubs were real medical staff, and one would never have known that a major homicide bust had just taken place.

"Yep," Kyle replied. "She's locked up for good, where she belongs."

"And no one got hurt?"

"Nope. But Captain Beckett is in labor for real now," he added, pointing his thumb toward the delivery room where it had all gone down. "The doctor just went in."

The women gasped and clutched at each other in excitement. "Really? Oh! Lanie!" gasped Alexis, as the medical examiner emerged from the delivery room.

"Oh, hey Alexis, Martha." Lanie greeted them with a big smile. "Castle just asked me to come out and call you guys. It's not going to be much longer now."

"And everything's all right, then?" Martha clarified fretfully, gazing at the closed door as if she would love to rush in there and see for herself. "No problems with the baby, with Katherine?"

"Everything's fine," Lanie assured her. "Come on, we can wait in the lounge over here."

"Kyle, are you coming?" Alexis asked, taking her boyfriend's hand.

He hesitated, looking at the delivery room door, and then at LT, who had been standing guard alongside him.

"Go ahead," LT said with a nod. "I got this."

"Okay," Kyle agreed, and started to follow his girlfriend down the hall.

"Oh," Martha exclaimed, looking back over her shoulder, "and when Katherine's father gets here, tell him where to find us, will you, dear? He's on his way over right now."

"Will do, ma'am," LT promised with a nod.

* * *

"Doing fine, Kate. Very good, very good," smiled Dr. Kowalewski from her spot at the foot of the bed, between Beckett's legs. "Not much longer now. Baby is crowning already."

"I can see her head!" Castle gasped, leaving Kate's side for a moment to look. "Wow, so much hair." He grinned delightedly. "She's got hair, Kate."

"Great," Beckett groaned, panting, as sweat beaded on her forehead. "Rick, I- I need-"

"What?" Immediately he was by her side again, brushing hair off her face, wiping her brow with a soft cloth, taking her hand in his. "What do you need, sweetheart? Anything."

"I don't know," she moaned, her head swinging from side to side as she tried to catch her breath in the short span of time between contractions. "Just you. I just need you."

"I'm here," he promised, squeezing her hand. "Not going anywhere. You'll never get rid of me now, Beckett."

"Ohh," she grunted. The next contraction was already beginning, and she hadn't had time to rest since the last one ended. "I'm not ready," she tried to say, but wasn't sure whether it came out as anything more than a whine.

The pain took over her whole body again, and she was only dimly aware of Dr. Kowalewski saying "Good, good, keep pushing," as she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed with all her might, trying to will her daughter out of her body.

The contraction eased off and she slumped back against the bed, gasping.

"Good job," the doctor said again, still smiling. "Doing great."

"Doing great," Castle echoed. The nurse handed him a cup of ice water and he guided the straw into Kate's mouth. She sucked at it eagerly, feeling parched.

"Ohh... I really need the epidural," she sighed, letting her eyes fall shut again. She felt exhausted, her muscles trembling with the effort, her whole body aching.

"Sorry," Dr. Kowalewski said gently. "Was too late already. Your baby got impatient, yes? Can't wait any longer to meet mommy and daddy."

Kate's labor had indeed progressed very quickly. She'd barely had time to process the fact that their plan had worked - that they had caught Megan Bailey at last - before she was on the delivery bed, fully dilated, with the contractions coming hard and fast.

It still almost didn't seem real. Nine months of planning, imagining, discussing, shopping, feeling the movements inside her, seeing the ultrasound scans... and yet it still felt almost like a dream. It was still so hard to believe that she was about to become a mother. She hadn't realized, until these last few months, just how badly she wanted this - just how excited she was for it. She couldn't wait to begin this new stage of her life with Castle.

"Rick," she panted, reaching out blindly for him, feeling him again taking her hand in his larger one. "I love you. So much."

"I love you too," he responded immediately, his voice rumbling close to her ear, soothing her like only he could. "You're amazing, Kate. You're extraordinary."

"Here we go," said Dr. Kowalewski, keeping her voice quiet, but full of excitement. "Ready?"

Kate opened her eyes and drew in a long, slow breath. "Yes," she said, taking a firmer grip on her husband's hand. "I'm ready."

The contraction built, and she kept her eyes open this time, watching the doctor's hands. The pain grew to a crescendo as she squeezed Castle's hand tighter and tighter, bearing down as hard as she could with the doctor's chant of "Push, push" echoing in her ears.

All of a sudden she felt a powerful pop, and an intense sensation of relief flowed through her body, the unbearable pressure released. Looking down, she could see something in Dr. Kowalewski's hands, small and round and bloody.

"You did it," Castle breathed in her ear, and the doctor smiled up at her.

"Head is out," Dr. Kowalewski announced unnecessarily. "Hard part is over, Kate. One more big push and done."

"Okay," she said, her eyes eagerly devouring the sight of the tiny head in the doctor's hands. The next contraction was already beginning and she pushed her way into it, watching in amazement as the rest of her daughter's body slid out into the doctor's waiting hands.

"Well done! Congratulations," the doctor exclaimed, her smile growing even bigger as she quickly stood and placed the naked baby onto Kate's chest.

"She's perfect," Castle gasped, leaning close, laughing delightedly into her ear.

Kate just stared, transfixed. Her hands came up automatically to balance the tiny body on her stomach, and she gazed at her daughter's little face, enraptured. Some part of her brain was cataloging the details - tiny button nose, perfect little curled ears, ten fingers, ten toes - while the rest of her was simply entranced by the sight of this little person who had just come out of her.

The baby let out a tiny wail, then opened her eyes and stared up at her mother. Kate gave a little gasp, tears springing to her eyes.

"Oh, Rick. Look at those blue eyes. Just like yours," she marveled, laughing and crying at the same time. Her husband smiled and reached out his hand, gently smoothing his fingers across the baby's forehead.

"Hey, Lily," he crooned, his voice rough with emotion. "We're so happy to meet you."

The nurse put a little hat on the baby's head, then covered her body with a cloth and began to rub gently, wiping away the blood and other fluids. Lily's tiny mouth opened, letting out an angry cry at the treatment. Kate laughed softly, and although she couldn't tear her eyes away from the baby, she knew that the nurse, the doctor, and Castle were all smiling as well. She stroked her daughter's little hand soothingly.

"It's okay, baby," she murmured. "Don't cry. It's your birthday."

* * *

"Hey," said Esposito, tentatively knocking on the door to another hospital room. Aragon was sitting up on the bed, wearing her own clothes again.

"Hey," she responded, grimacing ruefully. "They said I have to stay another hour or so, make sure both the drugs are out of my system."

"Okay," he nodded, coming over to perch on the edge of the bed next to her. "Well, uh, I can hang out then, if you want."

"You don't have to... get back?" she asked tentatively.

He shook his head. "Nah, the paperwork can wait."

Marisa chuckled lightly. "Any excuse to avoid the paperwork, huh?"

"You know me so well," he joked. But after a moment he turned serious, reaching for her hand.

"Hey," he said, "um, you know, walking away from you like that? That was... probably the hardest thing I've ever done."

"It was all part of the plan, Javi," she said softly. "You were playing your part."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded. "But, I mean, it still sucked."

She smiled slightly. "I know." She squeezed his fingers. "And hey, you do realize that after all this, you're gonna have to marry me, right?"

"What?" His head came up, eyes going wide in surprise. "I... what?"

"Eventually," she shrugged. "No getting around it, buddy. Gonna happen."

"Oh." Esposito blew out a breath, letting that sink in. To his surprise, the idea didn't terrify him like it might have in the past. "Well, okay," he said, mirroring her shrug. "As long as Richie's okay with it."

* * *

"Come in, come in," Castle invited, all smiles as he opened the door to the eager family members. They came crowding through in a joyful rush, all chattering at once.

Kate had been moved to a private postpartum recovery room, with a more comfortable bed than the one she had given birth on. She had the head of the bed raised up so she could sit, holding Lily, who was now cozily swaddled in a blanket and perfectly content.

Kate felt physically exhausted, but buoyed by the euphoria of adrenaline and endorphins that were flooding her system. Tears kept leaking out of her eyes, and she couldn't stop smiling.

"Oh, let us see, let us see!" cried Martha, all aflutter as she and the others approached the bed. Kate smiled wider and carefully shifted the bundle in her arms, turning Lily so that her grandparents and sister could see her little face.

"Oh, Katie," sighed Jim, his cheeks already damp as he bent over to give his daughter a careful hug and kiss her forehead. "She's beautiful."

"She's so tiny," Alexis marveled softly. "Look at her nose! She looks like a little Who!"

"She's just perfect," said Martha, leaning closer to coo at the infant.

Castle stood behind the others, beaming proudly. He turned away briefly to grab the box of tissues from a shelf along the wall, passing them around to everyone.

"Do you want to hold her, Dad?" Kate asked.

Jim's face lit up. "Of course I do." He gazed at the baby in utter adoration as Kate placed her in his arms. Castle pushed a visitor chair up behind him and Jim sank into it, already whispering terms of endearment to his oblivious granddaughter.

"How are you feeling, Katherine dear?" Martha asked, studying Kate's face. "You look wonderful, I must say. Motherhood becomes you."

"Thank you, Martha," Kate answered, smiling. "I feel fine. I mean, I'm tired, and sore all over, and I would love a shower right about now," she added ruefully, "but really, I'm fine."

"Kate was amazing," Castle put in with a proud smile. He looked at his hand, flexing the fingers slowly. "I'm sure I'll regain feeling in this hand eventually."

"I didn't squeeze that hard," Kate scoffed, grinning affectionately up at him as Alexis wrapped her arms around him for a hug.

Martha stood next to Jim's chair, the two of them admiring the baby side-by-side, and when the proud grandmother bent down to take her turn holding the new arrival, Alexis took the opportunity to lean over the bed and give Kate a hug of her own.

"I always wanted a sister," she whispered into Kate's ear, "so thank you."

Kate's breath caught in her throat, and she blinked back a fresh wave of tears. "She's gonna be so lucky to have you," she whispered back. Alexis pulled back so they could look at each other, exchanging watery smiles.

"Oh, and congratulations," Alexis added belatedly, flashing a sheepish look. Then she straightened up and rounded the bed to where the cooing grandparents were sitting. "Hey! Is it my turn yet, or what?"

"I only just got her," Martha protested, pressing the baby closer to her chest. "Have some patience, young lady."

"Everyone relax," Castle chuckled, resting his hand on Kate's shoulder. "There'll be plenty of baby time for all of you."

Kate covered his hand with her own, flashing him a smile before turning her attention back to their blended family.

* * *

Ryan stood in the doorway of Beckett's office, looking out across the bullpen. The day shift was beginning to wind down, a few officers already starting to arrive for the evening shift. The precinct was alive with the usual kind of hustle and bustle, a familiar backdrop to his thoughts.

Deputy Inspector Gates had handled most of the daily operations of the precinct, so there hadn't been much left to do when Ryan had returned to the precinct. He had brought Gates up to speed, bid her goodbye, then finished the preliminary paperwork and overseen Megan Bailey's transfer to a maximum-security prison. Her case was in the hands of the DA now, and with the mountain of evidence against her, she would undoubtedly spend the rest of her life behind bars.

His partner and their boss were still at the hospital, living their lives. The thought of how they were both expanding their families, much as he had begun to do a few years ago, made him smile. He was so happy for all of them. And he was eager to go meet the newest member of their extended family, but first, he had one more thing to do.

He tapped the call button on his phone and lifted it to his ear.

"Hi, it's Kevin Ryan," he said. "Yes. I'm ready to accept the offer."

* * *

Lily was just a few hours old, and Kate already couldn't get enough of her new daughter. She'd spent every moment she could studying the little girl, touching her soft skin, and talking to her.

Kate had always been one to roll her eyes when a mother gushed excessively over her children, but now, she understood. Lily Castle was perfect, and Kate wouldn't hesitate to tell any stranger about it.

Already, Kate was learning the various little noises that her daughter made and memorizing her adorable facial features. She'd traced the pattern of her hairline so many times that she could probably draw it without having to look, and she knew every wrinkle in Lily's tiny palms. And still, she hadn't managed to get enough of her daughter.

Lying against Kate's chest, Lily blinked slowly, her tiny body relaxing as her eyelids drooped.

"You two should get some sleep," Castle said from the chair beside the bed. Kate glanced at him, a question in her eyes, until she realized he could probably tell that her eyelids were as heavy as the baby's.

"I am really tired," she admitted. "But I can't go to sleep."

" _Can't_?" her husband asked. "Or _won't_?"

He knew her too well. "Won't," she said with a sigh, her eyes going back to the baby on her chest. "I just... I don't want to miss anything."

"I get it," Rick said, standing up and coming over to her bedside. "I've been there before- it's all so new and exciting. But Kate, you need to take care of yourself too. You must be exhausted. I promise you're not going to miss her first word, or her first steps, if you sleep right now. Besides, I think she's ready to take another nap, too." Sure enough, the little girl had already closed her eyes, her breathing starting to even out.

"How about this," Castle said, his voice soft. "I want to go talk to Dr. Burke, tell him about today. That would be a perfect time for you two to take a nap. No one else is here, and you can get some rest."

"Well…" Kate said, again glancing down at her daughter. "I guess I probably should."

She slowly lifted Lily off her chest, placing the baby in her father's waiting arms. He carried the little girl over to her bassinet, kissing her cheek as he put her down.

"Get some sleep," he said, running a hand through Kate's hair. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Love you," Kate murmured, settling down into the bed as her husband turned out the lights. Her eyes had slipped shut before the door to her room had fully closed.

What seemed like seconds later, Kate was pulled from a deep sleep by a loud squeal. Instantly awake, her eyes shot open, immediately darting around the room in search of the baby. Was Lily okay? Was someone trying to take her again? Had Megan escaped? She shouldn't have gone to sleep!

She blew out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing, as she found Lanie, a sheepish expression on her face, standing over the newborn's bassinet. "Sorry I woke you," her best friend said with a sheepish grin, a red flush spreading across her cheeks. "I just couldn't help it when I saw this little cutie! You are a cutie, aren't you?" she cooed, her attention directed back at the baby.

"Hello to you, too," Kate chuckled. Lanie was naturally drawn to babies, and if her reaction to Lily was anything like it had been to baby Cosmo so long ago, the tiny girl was about to be nearly smothered with love.

"Sorry," Lanie said again, turning toward Kate. "I got a little distracted by the baby. How are you? I know it's been a weird day."

"That's an understatement," Kate said with a laugh. "But I'm doing well. Tired, but good."

"That's great. May I?" Lanie asked, gesturing at the baby. Kate nodded, and her best friend bent to lift the tiny infant into her arms, whispering sweet words that Kate couldn't make out. Lanie was definitely in her element.

"Kate, she's beautiful," Lanie said after a moment, gently slipping off the baby's hat. "And look at all that hair! So thick and dark, just like her daddy's. Aunt Lanie will babysit any time you want... and probably any time you don't want."

"Except you're moving," Kate answered, the realization suddenly dawning on her and bringing a flood of emotions in its tide. Tears sprang to her eyes within seconds, and when she looked up at Lanie, she was surprised to see the other woman's eyes filled with moisture, too.

"Yeah, I am," her best friend said, her voice filled with emotion. "I almost forgot about that for a minute there."

The two friends were quiet for a while, neither knowing what to say. Both had avoided talking about Lanie's upcoming move to Louisiana more than necessary, not wanting to dwell on the emotions of it, but it was the elephant in the room now. Lanie really was leaving- and soon.

"I'll come back to visit, you know," Lanie finally said, staring down at the baby in her arms. "You won't be able to keep me away. And you'll bring her to see me after I get settled."

Kate sighed, swiping at the remaining tears in her eyes. "I know," she said. "It's just hard. But we're not going to let each other lose touch."

"Of course not!" Lanie said, smiling. "And I expect a FaceTime chat at least twice a week- no, three times. I've got to get my Lily fix."

"Absolutely," Kate said, grinning.

The door to the room began to inch open, and both women looked toward it, smiling as Castle cautiously poked his head through. "Oh, hey, Lanie! I didn't know you were here," he said, opening the door wider.

"Hey, Castle," Lanie said with a smile as he walked into the room. "Congratulations, you." She reached up to give him a one-armed hug, Lily still cradled in her other arm.

"Thanks," Castle beamed, hugging Lanie back and running his hand lightly over Lily's head. "How's everyone doing here?" He bent to kiss Kate's forehead. "Get any rest?"

"A little," she answered with a weary smile. "How was your talk with Dr. Burke?"

"Fine," he replied. "He said it's no trouble to stop by here in the morning and talk to you for a little while."

"Great, thanks," Kate murmured, just as Ryan and Esposito appeared in the doorway.

"Yo," said Espo. "Is this a good time?"

"Come on in, guys," Kate called. "And hit the lights." As the boys entered, Lily began to fuss again, squirming in Lanie's arms.

"Ahh man, she hates us already," Ryan griped, but he was smiling. "Congratulations, guys."

"Thank you," Beckett replied. As Lanie transferred the baby to Ryan's waiting arms, Kate looked toward Espo and asked, "How's Aragon?"

"Fine," he answered quickly. "The doctors said there shouldn't be any lasting effects of the drugs, but Gates told her to take tomorrow off anyway."

"Good," Kate said quietly. "Will you tell her that I... that I'm sorry for-"

"No need," Esposito interrupted. "She knows it was all part of the plan. It's all good."

"Shh, shh," Ryan was saying, walking back and forth while bouncing Lily gently. "Hey, there you go." The fussing had stopped, and the baby dropped back off to sleep.

"You're a natural now, Kev," Castle said. "Come and babysit any time."

Ryan chuckled. "You know it. Jenny and I owe you guys like a hundred date nights by now."

"I can't wait to get the kids together," Beckett mused, smiling mistily at the thought of their daughter running around the playground with Sarah Grace and Nicholas. "Oh, damn it," she added, embarrassed, as tears began to run down her cheeks again.

"Normal hormonal reaction," Lanie soothed, passing Kate the box of tissues. She scoffed soggily and wiped her eyes.

"Stupid hormones."

"She's pretty cute," Esposito commented, looking over Ryan's shoulder at Lily. "I guess we'll forgive you for running off in the middle of a bust."

Kate laughed, still sniffling. "Yeah, thanks for handling the aftermath, guys. I know how much you love it."

"Hey," said Castle softly. "We really did it, huh?" He looked around the room, making eye contact with each of them. "We pulled it off. We stopped her. She doesn't scare us any more."

"We're stronger than her," Beckett said quietly, as the others nodded. "Because we're a team."

"Yeah," Ryan said slowly, "about that..."

Kate felt her forehead creasing at the words and the sudden seriousness in his tone. His expression was solemn, almost sad. She cocked her head at him, confused.

"What?" she asked.

The others went quiet, clearly recognizing the same shift in mood that Kate was sensing. Castle moved to take Lily from Ryan, lifting the baby onto his broad shoulder while they all waited for Ryan to gather his thoughts.

It was Esposito who spoke up first, though. "You're leaving us, aren't you?" he said, his voice low but steady. "Leaving the 12th."

"I... yeah," Ryan acknowledged, nodding slowly. Lanie gave a small gasp, and Beckett's mouth fell open in dismay.

"Leaving the 12th?" Kate repeated. "To go where?"

"The Police Academy," Ryan explained. "They've decided to do a complete overhaul of how they teach the use of technology in investigations, and they asked me to help design the new curriculum, and lead the first team of instructors teaching it."

"Wow, that sounds right up your alley," Castle observed, while Beckett just stared at her detective - her friend - letting the news sink in.

"It is," Ryan agreed, "plus it's more money, and shorter hours, so I can spend more time with the kids. And I won't be putting myself in danger every day when I walk out the door."

"That'll be a load off Jenny's mind," Kate murmured, almost to herself. Her throat felt tight with sorrow, but she could see that it was for the best. Ryan looked happier already, she realized, even as he was exchanging a melancholy look with Esposito, the two of them muttering to each other too quietly for her to hear. And she knew that for quite a while now he had been struggling with finances and the desire for more time with his family.

She waited until Ryan turned back toward her, meeting her eyes. "That's great, Kevin. I'm happy for you," she said, hoping that her voice sounded sincere, and not too sad.

"Thanks, Beckett," he said, leaning over to hug her. "Thanks for... everything. It's been an honor being part of this team."

Kate took in a shaky breath, determined not to start crying again. "The feeling is mutual," she told Ryan softly, returning the hug. "We're going to miss you."

"Yeah, bro," Esposito chimed in. "Really gonna miss you." He ducked his head, embarrassed by his own admission, but Ryan smiled at him in complete understanding.

"I know. Me too, man," he said. "But hey, I'll still be around. I'll probably even still come back to the 12th to consult. It's not like I'm moving to Louisiana or anything," he added pointedly.

"Oh, sure, throw me under the bus!" Lanie exclaimed, and they all chuckled. But Lanie moved to put her arms around Ryan, hugging him tightly. "Congratulations, Kevin. Good for you."

 _So much change_ , Beckett thought, looking around the room at her team - her extended family. All of their lives were changing, but somehow she knew that however far apart they might be, they would all be there for each other, no matter what.

* * *

"I can carry my own bag," Kate said for the dozenth time as the elevator doors opened on their floor. Castle grinned happily and shook his head.

"Nope. Forget it, Beckett. You're already carrying the most important cargo." He gazed down at Lily, once again fast asleep in her mother's arms. He knew that he was biased, but he was nevertheless quite sure that his new daughter was the cutest, most perfect baby anywhere.

"Rick," his wife called softly, chuckling as she nudged him back to awareness. Behind her, Eduardo the doorman was doing a terrible job of concealing his own amusement.

"Right! Right, sorry," Castle exclaimed, quickly picking up the two bags - Kate's overnight bag containing her hospital clothes, and Lily's diaper bag - and ushering Kate out of the elevator ahead of him. Eduardo brought up the rear, carrying the infant carseat and several bouquets of flowers that had been brought or sent to them in the hospital.

"Here we are, ladies," Castle said, edging around his wife to open the door. "Oh! Wait," he cried, as Kate walked through the door, carrying the baby. "Wait, Beckett, come back."

"What now?" she asked with a tolerant smile, as Eduardo, still grinning, carefully set down the flowers on the dining table.

"Go back out," Castle instructed, setting the bags down inside the loft, "and come back in. But wait, I'm not ready," he added, quickly tugging his phone from his pocket and swiping to open the camera app.

"Oh, for-" Kate shook her head, rolling her eyes as she stepped back out into the hallway. "Can you believe how silly your daddy is?" she asked Lily, her tone softening as she addressed the sleeping baby. "You're going to be the most photographed baby in human history."

"Okay," Castle called, "come on in now." He beamed as he snapped a half-dozen pictures of Kate walking over the threshold with their precious bundle in her arms.

"Welcome home, Lily," she murmured with a tender smile that made Rick think his chest might explode from happiness.

"I'll be down at the desk if you need anything else," Eduardo said, snapping them both out of it. By the time Castle had ushered the doorman out and closed the door behind him, giving him a considerable tip along the way, Beckett had settled onto the couch with Lily.

"Forget it," she said, holding up a quelling hand as he approached. "I'm not getting up again so you can take a 'first time sitting on the couch' picture."

"That's okay. We'll stage one later," he joked, sinking down next to her. His eyes were drawn back to the baby again, and without another word Kate lifted Lily from her lap, holding her out toward him.

Castle took the baby, marveling at the way his amazing wife had somehow known just what he wanted. Cradling Lily against his chest, he was drinking in every minuscule detail of her already beloved face when he heard the click of a camera shutter. He looked up to find Kate taking pictures of him with her phone, her eyes shining.

"Two can play that game," she commented with a soft grin, nudging his shoulder teasingly. He chuckled quietly, leaning over to look at the photo she had just taken. The completely besotted expression on his face in the picture made him laugh again, and he pressed his lips to Kate's cheek.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, as she put the phone away and leaned against him, tucking herself under his free arm. "Need to go lie down? You're supposed to rest when she's sleeping."

"No, I'm okay," Kate murmured, her eyes fixated on the baby. She had actually managed a few decent chunks of sleep in the hospital overnight, and he had brought her favorite latte to the hospital that morning, so she was looking less tired than she had the previous day, although he knew that wouldn't last.

"Water? Something to eat? Another painkiller? I could run you a bath?"

"Babe, I'm fine," she assured him, pulling her gaze off Lily to smile at him, stretching up to kiss his cheek. "I have everything I need, right here on this couch."

"I know just what you mean," he breathed, turning his head to brush his lips across hers before she sank back down into the curve of his arm.

They fell silent for a moment, watching their daughter sleep.

Then Castle drew in a slow breath, and said quietly, "When I saw Dr. Burke yesterday, we talked about where I want to go with my writing."

Beckett tilted her head back on his shoulder so she could see his face. "Mm?" she hummed encouragingly.

He took another breath. "After everything that's happened... and yesterday... and Lily... I just feel like I've had enough of writing about murder and death and, and the ugly sides of life. I need a change."

"You've been working on some new stuff these past few months," Kate observed, and he nodded agreement.

"Yeah, I've been playing around with some different kinds of fiction. I was also fiddling with some more ideas for Nikki, but... you know, I think I brought her story to a pretty good conclusion in _Heat Storm_. Maybe this is a good time to put her aside."

Kate nodded thoughtfully. "What did Dr. Burke say?"

"That it's normal to think about making changes in your life when something big like a new baby happens," he recounted with a rueful smile.

"Hmm," Beckett mused. "Funny, he said the same thing to me, when I talked to him this morning."

"Really?" Castle shifted slightly to look down at her face. "About your career plans?"

"Yeah. I know we agreed that I don't have to decide anything yet, but you know me, Castle. I'm not good at not having a plan."

He smiled. "I do know that about you. But you have plenty of time to figure it all out."

"That's what Dr. Burke said. And I'm still not going to make any definite decisions while I'm on maternity leave. After I go back to work, see what it's like being a working mom, then we'll see."

"Sounds reasonable," Castle murmured, jiggling Lily lightly as she grunted and squeaked in her sleep.

"Yeah." Kate put her head on his shoulder again. "So... no more Nikki?"

"Well, I'm not saying I'll never go back to her," he replied, turning his head to kiss her forehead. "You'll always be my muse."

"Sweet talker," she teased lightly. "But now you've got a new source of inspiration."

"Yeah," he agreed, returning his attention to the bundle in his arms.

As if on cue, Lily stirred, and her little eyes opened, staring up at him. He was transfixed. He felt that he could read a thousand stories in those eyes, and he couldn't wait to write them.

And then her face screwed up into a knot of distress, and she began to wail. Rick laughed, and felt Kate's body shaking against his side with amusement as well.

"And that's the end of that moment," he joked, sitting up. "Looks like it's feeding time again. I'll get the pillow," he added, as Kate began to unbutton her blouse.

Half an hour later, after Lily had nursed and burped, had her diaper changed, nursed again, and burped again, Castle was bringing Kate a glass of water when his phone beeped with a text from Alexis.

 _We're in the lobby downstairs,_ it read, _but if you're not up for company right now, we can come back another time._

"Are we ready for a family visit?" he asked, showing Kate the text. She smiled up at him, holding Lily easily on her shoulder. She already looked so natural handling the baby. He couldn't believe how gorgeous she looked, serene and glowing with happiness just one day after giving birth. He never would have imagined he could love her even more.

"Tell them to come on up," she murmured, leaning back against the couch cushions.

"Sure you're not too tired?"

"We'll keep it short," she temporized.

"Okay," he smiled, tapping out a reply to Alexis. "Drink your water."

A few minutes later, Rick opened the door to his mother, daughter, and father-in-law. "Come on in," he invited, and they wasted no time in doing just that.

"Oh! There she is, my little darling," Martha gushed, hardly sparing a glance for her son as she swept dramatically across the room to plop down next to Kate on the couch. Alexis took a moment to give her father a hug, and Jim paused to inquire quietly about his daughter's health, but soon enough they were all gathered in the living-room area, delight on every face as they passed Lily back and forth from one to another.

Castle found himself a seat on the couch next to his wife, who once again snuggled up against him, both watching with amusement as the rest of the family argued good-naturedly over who was hogging the baby.

"You okay?" he asked sotto voce, noticing that Kate's cheeks were damp again. She ducked her head in embarrassment, nodding as she swiped at her eyes with one hand.

"Fine," she assured him, lifting her head again and flashing him a grateful look as he pressed a fresh tissue into her hand. "I'm just so..." She trailed off, her eyes fixated again on their daughter. "Everyone tries to tell you what it'll be like," she murmured, "but there's no way you can really be prepared for this feeling, is there?"

"No," he agreed, rubbing his hand lightly up and down her arm. "There's nothing like it."

"I mean, she's not even 24 hours old," Kate mused, "but I already can't imagine my life without her."

"I know." Castle pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then, after a moment, added, "I felt the same way about you, after knowing you for less than 24 hours."

Kate scoffed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Liar."

"Artistic license," he corrected, grinning.

"Could you possibly be any cuter?" Martha's voice arose from the general clamor, and Kate turned her attention back to the family, pitching her voice to be heard above Alexis's squeals and Jim's soft cooing.

"I don't think she could," Beckett responded. "She's already at the top of her game."

"I was talking about you two," Martha said, shooting them a sly smirk. "Look at you, even after everything you'd been through, still looking like the happiest people on earth."

"How could we not?" Castle asked, gazing fondly down at his wife, who was biting her lip in a doomed attempt to hold back her smile. "I have the most amazing wife-"

"And I have the most amazing husband," Kate murmured, just as her father leaned over and placed Lily in her arms once again.

"And together we have the world's most perfect baby," Rick finished, slipping his pinky into Lily's palm. Her tiny hand gripped his finger tightly even in her sleep. Jim moved a few steps backward, snapping a picture of the three of them, his face shining with quiet joy.

"Wow," Alexis commented, "we really are going to be the sappiest family ever, aren't we?"

Castle looked at Beckett, and Beckett looked at Castle, and just as they had done so many times before, they spoke in perfect unison.

"Always."

 **THE END**

* * *

 _Episode beta work by amtepe, ivyandtwine, and the Castle Season 9 writing team._

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